Biology:Centro del Calamar Gigante

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Short description: Natural history museum in Asturias, https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain
Centro del Calamar Gigante
Centro del Calamar Gigante logo.jpg
Museum logo that once adorned the façade
Centro del Calamar Gigante is located in Asturias
Centro del Calamar Gigante
Location within Asturias
Centro del Calamar Gigante is located in Spain
Centro del Calamar Gigante
Location within Spain
Established13 August 2010 (2010-08-13)[2]
LocationPaseo del Muelle 25, Luarca, Asturias, Spain [1]
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 43°32′52.4″N 6°32′2.4″W / 43.547889°N 6.534°W / 43.547889; -6.534
TypeNatural history museum
CollectionsGiant squid and other cephalopods, other marine life
Visitorsalmost 25,000 (2013)[3][nb 1]
DirectorLuis Laria (2010–2014)[6]
WebsiteOfficial website (archived)

Centro del Calamar Gigante (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈθentɾo del kalaˈmaɾ xiˈɡante]; lit. Giant Squid Centre)[nb 2] was a natural history museum located in Luarca, Asturias, Spain .[8] It was administered by the marine conservation group CEPESMA (es)[nb 3] and held the association's cephalopod collections together with other marine exhibits.[8] It was described as the only museum in the world dedicated to the giant squid (Architeuthis dux)[5][10][nb 4] and held one of the world's most important collections of large cephalopods,[12][13] including the largest collection of giant squid on public display.[14]

Opened in August 2010, the museum was badly damaged by a storm in November of the same year and largely destroyed by another storm in February 2014. As the museum had been a major tourist attraction and an important contributor to Luarca's economy, there was strong local support for its reconstruction or relocation.[5][3][15][16] After several years without progress, two proposals for relocation—first to an adjacent warehouse and later to a former cinema—were put forward and then abandoned, before the local government settled on its current plan to move the museum to a former nightclub. It is set to reopen towards the end of 2021.[17]

Background

Giant squid in Asturias

From the latter half of the 20th century and continuing into the early 21st century, Asturias has been a global hotspot for giant squid specimens, contributing a significant fraction of all recorded individuals worldwide.[18][19][20][21] Of the c. 650 specimens recorded globally as of 2012, 50 were documented in Asturian waters since 1956, or around one specimen per year.[19] They are known locally as peludines owing to the typical "peeled" appearance of specimens that have partially lost their delicate reddish skin.[5][22][23][21]

The animals received little attention from the scientific community in Asturias, and Spain more generally, until local naturalist Luis Laria drew attention to them, beginning in the mid-1990s.[22] This marked the start of a long-term collaboration between Laria and cephalopod experts Ángel Guerra and Ángel F. González of CSIC's Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas in Vigo, Galicia, who had previously examined only giant squid specimens from Namibia and South Africa .[18][22][21] The first joint dissection was carried out in Luarca in the winter of 1995, on an immature female from the Cantabrian coast weighing 104 kg (229 lb).[22]

Work of CEPESMA

In 1996 Laria founded the environmental conservation organisation CEPESMA, with the aim of protecting marine ecosystems and promoting environmental education.[9][24][25] It is through CEPESMA that much of the subsequent work on giant squid in the Asturian region was conducted. By July 2005, CEPESMA had handled 22 giant squid[26] and by 2009 this number had risen to around 30 collected specimens, of which they had preserved around 20; that year the group received their first specimen with intact eyes.[27] By 2013, 27 giant squid specimens had been examined by the team.[22] During this time they developed novel taxidermy methods to better preserve and display giant squid, which involved emptying the mantle of its internal organs and replacing them with a semi-rigid structure constructed from fishing nets, before submerging the whole specimen in a formaldehyde solution.[21]

Giant squid specimens from CEPESMA were loaned to a number of institutions around the world, including a male and a female to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States (for 50,000;[28] equivalent to United States dollar Template:To USD/data/2,008 in 2019), and another specimen to Biarritz Aquarium in Biarritz, France .[5][21][29]

Local abundance

The frequency of records from the Carrandi fishing grounds off Asturias has been attributed to a confluence of factors, including the presence of three extensive submarine canyons near the coast; the local abundance of the giant squid's favoured prey, blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou); the intensity of the fishing effort in the area; the tendency of local fishermen to report specimens; and the work of CEPESMA in recording and securing specimens.[19][30] Geophysical prospecting employing air-gun arrays has also been implicated in several mass stranding events.[31][32][33] The local abundance of specimens spurred an ultimately unsuccessful 2001–2002 effort to film the giant squid in its natural habitat for the first time, dubbed Proyecto Kraken ("Project Kraken").[13][22][34][35][36] On 7 October 2016, a live adult giant squid was photographed swimming off neighbouring Galicia, marking the first time this had been achieved outside of Japan ese waters.[37][38][39]

History

Early giant squid exhibits

The giant squid collection that would form the core of Centro del Calamar Gigante began with the arrival of the first specimen in Luarca in 1997.[40] The embryonic collection was originally exhibited at the Padre Galo public school (Colegio Público Padre Galo) in the centre of Luarca from early 1998.[12][41][42] In November 2002,[43] the growing collection was transferred, with financial help from the Principality of Asturias, to Luarca's Villar youth hostel, where 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) was made available.[44] It remained there until forced to close on 7 January 2008 due to the poor state of the building and its supposedly imminent demolition.[41][45][46] It was subsequently moved to a 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft)[44] warehouse of Luarca station (es), loaned by national railway operator FEVE.[12][3][42] The giant squid collection was to be publicly displayed there until the construction of the new museum in Luarca port, but these plans were scuppered by humidity problems in the warehouse.[44] In the end, only the 16 schools that had previously arranged visits were shown the collection at this temporary venue.[44] Luis Laria stated that the warehouse "does not meet the minimum conditions [...] it would not be dignified to charge entrance to a visitor on whom the paintwork will fall" ("no cumple las mínimas condiciones [...] no sería digno cobrar la entrada a un visitante al que se le caerá la pintura encima").[44] Laria also criticised the forced move from Villar youth hostel, which at that point (May 2008) was still standing.[44]

Throughout this time the giant squid collection formed part of a wider exhibit known as Aula del Mar ("Classroom of the Sea"), which also encompassed items related to climate change, cetaceans, turtles, crustaceans, and molluscs.[41][45][46] It received around 4000 school children per year.[46] Of the total collection, which occupied some 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft), around 30% would go on to be exhibited at Centro del Calamar Gigante.[46]

Planning for a new museum

In 2005 the Principality of Asturias committed €300,500 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,005" in 2019) towards the relocation of Aula del Mar.[43] As a major local tourist attraction, Valdés mayor Juan Fernández Pereiro advocated for the new exhibition to be located in the centre of Luarca where it would receive more visitors.[43] The first proposal called for part of the fishermen's warehouses (formerly a cannery) at the end of Luarca dock to be set aside for the exhibition, but this was rejected by the owners, and a proposal to construct the museum as an annex to the existing warehouses was taken forward instead.[43]

Detailed plans for Centro del Calamar Gigante were released in May 2007, with works set to start in July.[43] At the time, Vicente Álvarez Areces, the President of the Principality of Asturias, said that the museum would be "an international reference center for the exhibition and dissemination of cephalopods" ("un centro de referencia internacional de exposición y divulgación de cefalópodos").[43] At its new location it was expected to double the 30,000 visitors to Aula del Mar in 2006.[43] In October 2007 Areces announced that Centro del Calamar Gigante would open in 2009.[47] Work would involve stabilising the slope adjacent to the museum site.[44]

Opening and facilities

After some delays, the museum opened its doors to the public on 13 August 2010, with an official inauguration taking place in September.[2][12] It was visited by 14,000 people in the first three months.[48]

The museum building, which had 908.75 square metres (9,781.7 sq ft) of floorspace and a 66.25-square-metre (713.1 sq ft) patio, was built at a cost of €1,260,000 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,010" in 2019), financed by the Principality of Asturias.[2] The Asturian government contributed an additional €315,000 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,010" in 2019) through the Tourism Product Revitalisation Plan for Comarca Vaqueira (Plan de Dinamización Producto Turístico "Comarca Vaqueira").[2] The exterior was clad in grey quartzite at ground level and aluminium composite on the upper two floors.[2] The rear of the building was attached to existing fishermen's warehouses.[2] The building's location, at the end of Luarca port, left it highly exposed to the elements, and it had already suffered storm damage during its construction when a partition wall was washed away.[3] Both construction and subsequent repairs were undertaken by the construction company Sardesa Española.[3]

The collections were spread across three floors[49] and included eleven giant squid (Architeuthis dux) specimens and three of Taningia danae, the Dana octopus squid, including a giant female weighing 124 kg (273 lb).[50][51] The squid collection alone was valued at €2 million (equivalent to US$2,653,467.48 in 2019), with the individual giant squid specimens worth approximately €150,000 each (equivalent to US$199,010.06 in 2019).[3] The specimens were preserved in an alcohol-based solution that CEPESMA had determined to be particularly conducive to long-term display with minimal deterioration.[40]

Panoramic view of Luarca harbour, October 2010, showing the original (still undamaged) museum building in the centre-left of the frame, facing the breakwater

November 2010 storm damage and reopening

In November 2010 the museum had to close temporarily after being seriously damaged by a storm, the damage amounting to more than €140,000 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,010" in 2019).[48] The problem was compounded by CEPESMA's financial situation at the time, with the association unable to fund its activities and having to lay off staff.[52] Plans were drawn up for a concrete wall that would protect the museum from future wave damage[52] at a cost of €573,000 (equivalent to US$Template:To USD/data/2,011 in 2019).[53] CEPESMA eventually had to take out a €35,000 (equivalent to US$Template:To USD/data/2,011 in 2019) loan to repair the damage.[3] The museum reopened on 21 April 2011 after a little over two weeks of repair work to the ground floor and access area.[53] The museum received 1,670 visitors in its first four days after reopening.[7]

The number of visitors rose 17% between 2012 and 2013, which was largely attributed to increased media exposure for CEPESMA.[54] The museum occasionally hosted special events, such as the first conference on cephalopod science and gastronomy in September 2012[19] and a three-day conference on cetaceans in February 2013.[55]

February 2014 destruction

"The storms did damage, but the most serious was the political one, the damage of unreason, apathy, and thoughtlessness. In the short time it was open, it was twice damaged from the sea and then twice more, [the latter] perhaps more painful. Just 15 days [sic] after the second storm, a group of vandals created more than 20,000 euros [equivalent to US$26,534.67 in 2019] in damages, with fire extinguishers, they threw everything, they entered to vandalise. That was the most important damage on a moral level and then the political one, due to inaction and disregard, because they also threw out two million euros [equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,010" in 2019], which was what the museum cost."[nb 5]

—Luis Laria, museum founder, from an October 2020 interview with La Voz de Galicia[56]

On 2 February 2014 the museum was hit by a devastating storm that washed away the building's partition walls, doors, and any loose items inside, including specimens, chairs, and a collection of exhibited paintings.[6][3] The lower two of its three floors were directly affected[49] and the lighting system destroyed.[3] Centro del Calamar Gigante once held the world's largest collection of giant squid, but many of the museum's specimens were destroyed during the storm.[14][57][58][nb 6] Some were swept out to sea while others could not be saved because their damaged tanks had lost their preservative fluid.[63] One of the specimens that survived was a giant squid caught off Gandia in July 2005 – the first male recorded from the Mediterranean Sea.[60]

The destruction of the museum was blamed on the poor quality of the original construction and subsequent repairs, which were described as "a botch" ("una chapuza"), with walls far too thin to withstand the force of the waves and strong winds that might be expected in such an exposed location.[3][64][65] The placement of the electrical panel at ground level was also singled out as "a huge risk" ("un riesgo enorme"), as was the choice of large glass panels facing out to sea.[3] A cannery that was later modified into the fishermen's warehouses that attach to the rear of the museum building was similarly exposed for many years yet never suffered serious damage.[43][3] Museum director Luis Laria asserted that "if it were made of concrete there would not have been the slightest problem" ("si fuese de hormigón no habría habido ni el más mínimo problema").[64]

A few days after the storm the museum was broken into at night and vandalised.[62][66][67] The vandals gained entry by breaking locks and doors.[67] Tanks were smashed with fire extinguishers, exhibits and furniture destroyed, televisions and a DVD player stolen, and obscenities scrawled across the walls.[62][67] The extensive damage to the specimen tanks, some of which cost around €5000–6000 (equivalent to US$6,633.67–7,960.4 in 2019) each, forced the relocation of the surviving specimens.[5] Luis Laria saw this act of vandalism as "the straw that breaks the camel's back" ("la gota que colma el vaso").[62] Thereafter, the museum remained closed until further notice.[8] An online petition was soon started with the aim of either rebuilding the museum at its original location with an improved design or else relocating it.[68] Accounts for collecting donations were opened by St. Timothy's Brotherhood (Cofradía de San Timoteo) in Luarca and CEPESMA volunteers in Gijón.[28][69]

Abandonment of site

View from the opposite side of Luarca harbour, showing the damaged museum building and adjacent fishermen's premises, September 2014

In early 2015, more than a year after its destruction, the museum was described as having been abandoned, with the building left unprotected and its interior still filled with rubble.[64] It was said to have suffered further damage from subsequent winter storms and vandalism.[64] However, Valdés mayor Simón Guardado insisted that protective fences had been installed and that the site was checked periodically.[64] Guardado also announced that options would be explored to build a screen that would protect the facility against further storm damage.[64] The Principality of Asturias was said to be working on a project that would be put out to tender in the next legislature, though no firm deadlines were given.[64] Prior to regional and municipal elections in May 2015, a meeting between the regional government and Valdés municipal council (to which Luarca belongs) was held to discuss the museum's future, but as of February 2016 no decision had been made owing to budgetary constraints.[5][70][49]

On 31 May 2016, Valdés mayor Simón Guardado held a meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure, Belén Fernández, in which it was agreed that a temporary home would be found for the giant squid collection, with a commitment to eventually recover the original museum building.[71] This would involve rebuilding the museum and reinforcing the adjacent pier, with an aim to put the project out to tender between late 2016 and early 2017.[71] A demonstration in support of rebuilding Centro del Calamar Gigante was held in front of the abandoned structure in Luarca port on 4 June 2016.[72][73] However, Luis Laria stated that no progress had been made following a meeting with Simón Guardado later that month.[73]

On 4 February 2017, almost exactly three years after its destruction, another demonstration calling for the museum's reopening was organised.[74] On the same day, the Principality of Asturias announced that it would commit €60,000 (equivalent to US$67,643.74 in 2019) towards cleaning up the museum building in time for Easter.[75] Additionally, the Ministry of Development was to initiate a €200,000 (equivalent to US$225,479.14 in 2019) study into local sea dynamics to determine whether the site was viable for such a museum.[74][75] It was said the study could be completed by the end of the year.[75]

In late 2017 CEPESMA president Luis Laria donated the remaining museum collections, including 11 giant squid[21][76] (of which four had been acquired since the museum's destruction, as new specimens[77][78] and returns from Biarritz Aquarium in France [72]) to Valdés municipal council and stated that CEPESMA would not be involved in the management of the new museum;[15][56][79][80] it was unclear which body would take over.[81] In the intervening years the surviving museum specimens had been stored at CEPESMA's Parque de la Vida de Valdés (which opened in 2007 in La Mata, on the outskirts of Luarca[82]), some on public display as part of a 600-square-metre (6,500 sq ft) exhibit that also included items related to biology, geology, and astronomy.[49][77][79][83][84] Luis Laria had put €23,000 (equivalent to US$25,431.23 in 2019) of his own money into keeping three specimens at the park.[65] He had received numerous offers to buy the surviving giant squid specimens, with interest from scientific institutions, city councils, banks, and even public figures.[56][72] Laria said he had turned them down as he wanted the specimens to remain in Valdés and was otherwise only willing to loan the specimens for a few years, which most potential buyers would not consider.[56][63][72]

In March 2021, donated items including paintings, sculptures, books and various other objects were sold at the Caja Rural exhibition hall in Gijón to finance the recovery of CEPESMA's facilities, including those still holding the remaining giant squid specimens in anticipation of the museum's reopening later that year.[85][86] The giant squid collection at Parque de la Vida featured in an episode of the La 2 television program Rutas bizarras (es) ("Bizarre routes") first broadcast on 13 April 2021.[87][88]

Relocation plans

In July 2018 plans were unveiled for the museum to reopen in the premises of the local Fishermen's Guild (Cofradía de Pescadores), just to the rear of the original museum building, with a tentative completion date of summer 2020.[81][79][89] The new museum was to have 850 square metres of floorspace, with the project's budget exceeding €650,000 (equivalent to US$766,871.17 in 2019) and €45,000 (US$53,091.08 in 2019) allocated for its tender; the bidding process was to commence in August.[81][79] As part of the plan, the fishermen's quarters would be relocated to the Almuña-Barcia industrial estate.[89] Preliminary plans to relocate the museum to the fishermen's warehouses had already been in place in 2017, when Luis Laria donated his remaining giant squid specimens to Valdés municipal council.[15]

Following prolonged inaction on the part of the local government, a group of around 250 people gathered in Luarca on 2 February 2019 to demand the construction of a new museum.[76][90] Luis Laria stated at the time: "the giant squid represent my past" ("los calamares gigantes representan mi pasado").[76]

In December 2019 it was announced that the museum would instead be relocated to a building that previously housed Luarca's Goya Cinema (Cine Goya), at a cost of approximately €900,000 (equivalent to US$1,061,821.61 in 2019).[16][91] This move, which had been under consideration since at least July 2019,[92][93] was seen as far more economical, as it was estimated that the original plan—which called for the Fishermen's Guild to be converted into the new museum, new premises provided for the fishermen, and the former cinema separately converted into an auditorium—would have cost almost €3 million (equivalent to US$3,539,405.38 in 2019).[16] An opening in June 2020 was planned.[84] The new location was criticised for lacking sufficient parking space and being far from the sea, and because the space was previously intended for a cultural centre and an auditorium for the local council.[16][84][92] After further delays and inaction, in February 2020 the association Más Luarca Valdés called for "a dignified, solid and definitive solution" ("una solución digna, sólida y definitiva") to the question of the museum's future.[94]

"I don't want to know anything about what was in the museum because for me that museum has been a cursed museum. I'm going to put it like this. I dedicated my whole life and my best efforts so that afterwards it would come to nothing and the political organisation would deny the value of this facility."[nb 7]

—Luis Laria, museum founder, from an October 2020 interview with La Voz de Galicia[56]

A third relocation proposal was put forward in September 2020, this time to Luarca's old Villa Blanca nightclub.[95][96][84][97][98] Work to adapt the nightclub—budgeted at €45,000 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,020" in 2019)—was to begin in January 2021 and be completed by March, followed by the construction of museum exhibits, for which an additional €48,000 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,020" in 2019) was allocated.[97] The opening date was set for 1 July 2021, with the government paying monthly rent of €1500 (equivalent to US$Undefined year "2,020" in 2019) plus VAT thereafter.[84][97][95] The new museum is planned to be a "sensory experience" making use of light and sound effects.[99] Tanks containing twelve cephalopod specimens were held in a municipal warehouse until work on the new museum was completed.[63] Other marine animals were also planned to be exhibited, some of which had survived in their original preservative fluid inside the old museum building for the seven years since its destruction.[63]

The choice of the former nightclub met with strong local opposition from the commerce and hospitality sectors.[100] The venue was criticised by People's Party regional deputy Álvaro Queipo as being too small for its intended purpose, at only 290 square metres (3,100 sq ft),[101] and far from the port; Queipo commented that it "is not at the level of what this museum deserves, which has been an international jewel" ("no está a la altura de lo que se merece este museo, que ha sido una joya de ámbito internacional").[102][103]

In March 2021, Valdés mayor Óscar Pérez stated that the giant squid museum was central to his strategy for revitalising the municipality's tourism industry.[104][105] Pérez opined that the size of the former nightclub was sufficient to meet the museum's requirements, adding: "Being in the urban core area, it will make potential customers pass in front of various businesses such as shops, restaurants… and, therefore, it will favor economic activity. The reopening of the museum will help to structure the interior of Luarca, which never had significant resources for a flow of people."[nb 8] At the time, the museum was still set to reopen on 1 July 2021.[105]

On 28 July 2021, it was reported that the planned reopening at the former nightclub had been pushed back to the end of 2021.[17] It was also announced that in 2022 the Principality of Asturias would draw up plans for redeveloping the original harbourside building damaged in 2014.[17]

See also

Notes

  1. Another source from 2014 claims more than 26,000 annual visitors.[4] A 2016 article in El Español gave a figure of around 20,000 for the number of regular visitors to the original museum during its entire existence between 2010 and 2014, not including some 50,000 children who participated in environmental education activities linked to the museum.[5] For comparison, the population of Luarca at the time was around 6000.[5]
  2. Also known as Museo del Calamar Gigante[7] ([muˈseo del kalaˈmaɾ xiˈɡante]; lit. Giant Squid Museum) and Centro de Interpretación del Calamar Gigante[2] ([ˈθentɾo de interpɾetaˈθjon del kalaˈmaɾ xiˈɡante]; lit. Giant Squid Interpretation Centre).
  3. Short for Coordinadora para el Estudio y la Protección de las Especies Marinas[9] (lit. Coordinator for the Study and Protection of Marine Species).
  4. But see the small museum that forms part of the Giant Squid Interpretation Site in Glovers Harbour, Newfoundland, Canada , which opened a year earlier, in 2009.[11]
  5. Original Spanish quotation: "Los temporales hicieron un daño, pero el más grave fue el político, el daño de la sinrazón, la apatía, la desconsideración. Del poco tiempo que estuvo abierto tuvo dos daños por el mar y después otros dos más, quizás más dolorosos. Justo a los 15 días del segundo temporal, un grupo de vándalos creó más de 20.000 euros en daños, con extintores, todo lo tiraron, entraron de forma vandálica. Ese fue el daño más importante a nivel moral y luego el político, por la inacción y la desconsideración, porque tiraban también dos millones de euros, que fue lo que costó el museo."[56]
  6. Sources differ as to the number of giant squid specimens held by the museum prior to its destruction, with numbers ranging from 14[14] to as many as 31.[59] The number lost in the storm of February 2014 has been variously reported as 4[14] or 11.[60] The museum's official website mentioned 9 "large" giant squid specimens.[8] According to an extended report in La Nueva España, losses resulting from the events of February 2014 included four giant squid (including the longest specimen, measuring 13.7 m (45 ft)[61]), a 2.5-metre (8.2 ft) mako shark weighing 100 kg (220 lb),[62] and various abyssal species and other cephalopods, with a total value of almost €700,000 (equivalent to US$928,713.62 in 2019).[3]
  7. Original Spanish quotation: "No quiero saber nada de lo que había en el museo porque para mí ese museo ha sido un museo maldito. Voy a decirlo así. Dediqué toda mi vida y mis máximos esfuerzos para que después se quedase en nada y que el organigrama político ningunease el valor de este equipamiento."[56]
  8. Original Spanish quotation: "Al estar en la zona del núcleo urbano va a hacer que los clientes potenciales pasen por delante de diversos negocios como pueden ser tiendas, restaurantes… y, por tanto, favorecerá la actividad económica. La reapertura del museo va a ayudar a vertebrar un poco el interior de Luarca, que nunca tuvo recursos importantes para que hubiese un flujo de personas."[105]

References

  1. C.I. Calamar Gigante. Equalitas Vitae. (in Spanish)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 El Centro de Interpretación del Calamar Gigante de Luarca abre sus puertas. El Comercio, 13 August 2010. (in Spanish)
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Serrano, M.L. (2014). El gigante fiasco del Museo del Calamar. La Nueva España, 9 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  4. Guerra, Á. (2014). Carta del Dr. Angel Guerra, del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. [archived] CEPESMA, 6 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Chaparro, L. (2016). El Centro del Calamar Gigante de Asturias, en el abismo. El Español, 19 February 2016. (in Spanish)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Arrasado el Museo del Calamar en Luarca. [video] La mañana (RTVE), 3 February 2014. (in Spanish)
  7. 7.0 7.1 El Museo del Calamar Gigante de Luarca reanuda su actividad por todo lo alto. [archived] CEPESMA, 27 April 2011. (in Spanish)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Centro del Calamar Gigante. [archived] CEPESMA. (in Spanish)
  9. 9.0 9.1 ¿Que es Cepesma? [archived] CEPESMA. (in Spanish)
  10. Staaf, D. (2017). Marketing the mystery of the giant squid. Pacific Standard, 14 June 2017. [originally published on 29 September 2011]
  11. Hickey, S. (2009). Super squid: Museum set to open next month. Advertiser (Grand Falls), 25 May 2009.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 El Centro del Calamar Gigante celebra una jornada de puertas abiertas. Radiotelevisión del Principado de Asturias, 12 August 2010. (in Spanish)
  13. 13.0 13.1 Sitges, F.G. (director) (2003). Proyecto Kraken: En Busca del Calamar Gigante. [documentary film] Transglobe Films. 52 mins. (in Spanish) [English version: Kraken Project: In Search of the Giant Squid.]
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Une tempête détruit «la plus grande collection» de calamars géants au monde. La Presse, 3 February 2014. (in French)
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 La colección de calamares gigantes, única en el mundo, se queda en Luarca. La Voz de Galicia, 26 December 2017. (in Spanish)
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Arruñada, A. (2019). El Museo del Calamar Gigante reabrirá en 2021 en el antiguo Cine Goya. El Comercio, 12 December 2019. (in Spanish)
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Vega, C. & S. Fernández (2021). El Principado elaborará en 2022 un proyecto para reformar el antiguo Museo del Calamar. El Comercio, 28 July 2021. (in Spanish)
  18. 18.0 18.1 Guerra, Á., Á.F. González, F. Rocha, J. Gracia & L. Laria (2006). Enigmas de la Ciencia: El Calamar Gigante. CEPESMA, Vigo. 313 pp. ISBN:978-84-609-9999-7. (in Spanish)
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Serrano, A.M. (2012). Asturias, el paraíso del calamar gigante. La Nueva España, 1 October 2012. (in Spanish)
  20. Fernández-Pello García, J. (N.d.). Calamares gigantes en la costa de Asturias. Senderismo en Asturias. (in Spanish)
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 Martínez Ron, A. (2018). Cuando el ejército de EEUU se llevó dos calamares gigantes de Luarca a Washington. Vozpópuli, 28 June 2018. (in Spanish)
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 Guerra, Á. (2013). Persiguiendo al calamar gigante en Asturias: Varias expediciones españolas han buscado el 'Architeuthis dux'. El País, 8 January 2013. (in Spanish)
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  84. 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 84.4 La apertura del Museo del Calamar, prevista para este verano, se pospone al uno de julio de 2021. InfoAsturies, 28 September 2020. (in Spanish)
  85. "M. C." (2021). Donaciones para reflotar las instalaciones del Cepesma. La Nueva España, 16 March 2021. (in Spanish)
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  88. Asturias, protagonista este martes del programa 'Rutas bizarras' de TVE. El Comercio, 13 April 2021. (in Spanish)
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  97. 97.0 97.1 97.2 Suárez, R. (2020). Las obras para convertir la antigua discoteca de Luarca en el Museo del Calamar comenzarán en enero. El Comercio, 4 December 2020. (in Spanish)
  98. El Museo del Calamar Gigante en Luarca. Eco de Luarca, 20 January 2021. (in Spanish)
  99. Serrano, A.M. (2021). El Museo del Calamar Gigante reforzará la experiencia "sensorial" del visitante. La Nueva España, 20 January 2021. (in Spanish)
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  102. El PP acusa al Gobierno del abandono del Museo del Calamar. La Voz de Asturias, 4 October 2020. (in Spanish)
  103. El PP critica al Principado por "abandonar a su suerte" al Museo del Calamar de Luarca. Europa Press, 4 October 2020. (in Spanish)
  104. Serrano, A.M. (2021). “Hay que pensar en el Valdés de dentro de diez años, apostar por una industria turística”. La Nueva España, 13 March 2021. (in Spanish)
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