In December 2005 , the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia got the intact body of a giant squid , preserved in a giant block of ice . It had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand 's South Island that year . In December 2005 , the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid A$ 100,000 for the intact body of a giant squid , preserved in a giant block of ice , which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand 's South Island that year .