On Wednesday, the New Zealand marine scientists in charge with the examination of the largest squid specimen ever caught of the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni species, found its eyes to be the biggest animal eyes on Earth.

"This is the only intact eye (of a colossal squid) that's ever been found. It's spectacular," Kat Bolstad , squid specialist of Auckland University of Technology, told The Associated Press earlier this week. "It's the largest known eye in the animal kingdom," he concluded.

As one of the eyes was found damaged, the team will study the intact one using nondestructive methods to make sure that once the examination is over, the squid will be ready to go on permanent display in the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington.

The squid, estimated to be around 10 metres (33 feet) long and weighing 495 kilograms (1,090 pounds), was accidentally caught by a group of fishermen off the coast of Antarctica in February last year and since then, it has been kept frozen, as a preservation measure. Although it may seem big, there are rather high chances that much larger specimens are lurking in the deep, cold waters, as some scientists believe such squids could reach lenghts of even 14 metres (46 feet).

The group of scientists determined the squid’s sex and examined its stomach with the help of an endoscope. "We just found the ovaries — the specimen is a girl! The ovaries are full of several thousands of eggs!" they wrote on their blog on Wednesday.