Here's another reference on the Florida and Bermuda lumps:
Johnson, Richard I. 1998b. The myth of Octopus giganteus Verrill, 1897: a whale of a story. Occasional Papers on Mollusks, 5(76):456-457.
He cites a then-recent molecular study that confirmed that the Florida specimen was a whale.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
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That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa