[NEWS] Humboldt Squid mass stranding in California

[snafflehound@work]

Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

 

[Steve O'Shea]

... don't touch? That sounds a bit rough. If anyone is down that way and wants to grab a couple, wrap them up real good and tight, and put them in a freezer it would be mighty appreciated. I can find a way to get them to NZ.

Diseases? Hmmmmmm. Contaminated with DNA no doubt.

 

[snafflehound@work]

Frozen Squid Truck Overturns

It just doesn't seem to be a good day for Squid in California!


http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/20/local/stories/08local.htm

 

[snafflehound@work]

 

[erich orser]

I wish I'd heard about this yesterday; I'm calling the Newport Beach lifeguard in the morning to see if they've cleared the beach yet, then at least taking some photos. I doubt I'll be able to preserve any - our freezer is small and very unreliable - but I can find-out if any extras are headed up the coast to Santa Barbara. I'm sure Dr. Hochberg is probably thrilled. This happens periodically along our shores with Dosidicus - there was a mass stranding in La Jolla last year, as well as an identical event on the same beach 100 years earlier. If the surf is high and the bait-fish are in the shallows, these guys tend to get tumbled. The weird part is the fact that eyewitnesses report the squid making strange "dolphin-like" sounds as they die. Odd clicks and whistles. Has anybody out there ever heard anything remotely like this?

 

[chrono_war01]

Might be that the funnel was pumbing air and the mouths were moving.

 

[TPOTH]

I doubt I'll be able to preserve any - our freezer is small and very unreliable - but I can find-out if any extras are headed up the coast to Santa Barbara.

A few beaks and some length/weight data would be very sweet

TPOTH

 

[chrono_war01]

Too bad nothing ever happens to HK

 

[main_board]

Yeah, I saw this on TV this morning. According to DailyPlanet, a reputable show on the Discovery Channel, 1500 squids have washed ashore/beached themselves on the Californian coast. They have been termed "giant" squid, but never in reference to the actual species. They are averaging 2 metres in length, and around 7 kilos. Pretty Neat!

 

[Jean]

Saw this on the news......just made my fingers itch to get out there with my measuring board and my statolith gear........and my beak storage canisters ........and .......and........!

OOOOOOOOOOH the frustration!

J

 

[Squidman]

Wow...

I really have not heard much about mass strandings in squid.

Don't laugh yet.

The only squid I can remember stranding is the humbolt squid. (dosidicus gigas, right?) Why that particular squid?



Squidman

 

[chrono_war01]

Cause they'er the only meanys around and they deserve to be stranded ( Can't poeple find it earlier and make a calamari cooking competion)

 

[erich orser]

I did call the Newport Beach lifeguards the next morning and was told that it was too late; in fact, by the time I saw this posted on tonmo.com, the city had already cleared them all off the beach. A few went up to Santa Barbara, though, and I should be able to get info from them to pass along regarding size, weight, beaks, etc.

 

[erich orser]

Oh yeah,

The operator for the fire/lifeguards told me the seabirds were getting out of hand, the squid were starting to get rather ripe, and a woman complained that she had witnessed a little boy trying to wear one on his head like a hat. Wouldn't those suckers be a little painful?

 

[ArchyNorth]

... and a woman complained that she had witnessed a little boy trying to wear one on his head like a hat. Wouldn't those suckers be a little painful?

Kids can't be kids anymore I guess.
I bet he turns out to be a Ceph fan though, anyone willing to shove a big, many armed, rotting thing on their head is bound to be a fan when they grow up.