The largest giant squid ever caught will now not undergo dissection at Te Papa until about midday Wednesday - although it will still be viewable to a squeamish public.
The museum plans to evenually stream live footage of scientists cutting the squid open on its website.
It weighs 490 kilograms, and was dredged up by a New Zealand fishing boat in the Antarctic waters of the Ross Sea.
Te Papa spokeswoman Jane Keig expects the museum's website will be handling a lot of traffic.
She says the squid has been in the freezer since February 2007, and scientists feel now is the right time to take a closer look.
However, the creature still had not defrosted properly today, and Keig says it will take a good 36 hours of thawing at least before the team can get started on it.
Jane Key says scientists are keen to see what the squid has been eating, and to do that, they will cut open its stomach.
You can view the dissection live on Te Papa's website .
