[News]: Giant Squid Hitches Free Ride to the Marquesas - Cruising World

[octobot]

Giant Squid Hitches Free Ride to the Marquesas
[SIZE=-1]Cruising World, FL - 17 hours ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Investigating the findings of another cruiser, who hypothesized that Akitsushima II had been latched onto by a giant squid, the Cones donned scuba gear and ...[/SIZE]


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[tonmo]

Particularly interesting is the quote, "This squid would have to have stayed with the boat for weeks and weeks."

 

[OB]

That's a lot more than 5 centimeters, more like 10

Lusca?

 

[cuttlegirl]

I like this quote "We can't think of any ocean junk that would leave this kind of pattern. Barnacles and seaweed don't leave these marks. We've never seen fishing floats that would do this. We can't think of any other natural phenomenon that would make such marks. On the other hand, they look just like those squid suckers."


Cookie cutter shark or remora????

See this link http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/ibrasil.htm

Where it says "There are even reports of this species leaving crater-marks on the sonar domes of submarines."

 

[erich orser]

Enterprising dude with some circular underwater cutting-tool?

 

[OB]

Just to clear a potential misunderstanding on my part, they are referring to the 10 cm/ 4" circular structures in the photograph, right?

That would imply a VERY large squid...

 

[tonmo]

CG, interesting point there, you could write to them and point out your reference! (The bottom of the article invites input)... Or, we let them figure it out for themselves.

 

[cuttlegirl]

I did send them an email - I will let you know if I get any reply. I have seen what cookie cutter sharks can do to elephant seal skin, so I have no doubt they could leave an imprint on a hull.

 

[OB]

I agree, but has anyone ever seen 10 cm cookie cutter bites? I never knew they grew to that size...

Then again, same applies to Architeuthis' cups...

 

[Clem]

Hi,

Per Erich's observation, those look like the marks that would be left by a grinder used for barnacle removal and hull-cleaning in drydock. The diameter is about right, too.

Cheers,
Clem

 

[monty]

Hi,

Per Erich's observation, those look like the marks that would be lift by a grinder used for barnacle removal and hull-cleaning in drydock. The diameter is about right, too.

Cheers,
Clem

Yeah, my gut agrees that it was most likely a poor use of something like a disc sander last time the boat was hauled. Maybe they repainted it but didn't re-prime it, so where the over-sanding was, it looked like a solid paint job, but it couldn't stick, so it wore off much faster than the rest of the paint...

But thinking about squids, sharks, and ramoras is fun anyway. The fact that all the disks seem about the same size would seem to favor a single tool making them, which I guess could be one cookie cutter, but doesn't seem consistent with one squid (with many sizes of sucker).

If we humor the squid theory, it seems like the circles would have to be from suckers with toothed rings-- am I right remembering that achiteuthis has rings on all suckers (arms and tentacle clubs)? How about the other big squids? I know messie has hooks on the clubs, but assuming it was holding on with its arms, do its arm suckers have rings?

- M