Giant Squid Invade California Waters

Giant Squid Invade California Waters

www.huffingtonpost.com

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Giant squid weighing up to 60 pounds have invaded the California waters off Newport Beach and are being caught by sport fishermen by the hundreds.

The squid showed up last week and anglers started booking twilight fishing trips over the weekend to catch them.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The animals weigh between 20 and 40 pounds, but a few fishermen have reeled in 60-pound creatures.

The Humboldt squid is also called the jumbo squid or jumbo flying squid and squirts ink to protect itself.

They can grow up to 100 pounds and 6 feet long and follow food sources. The squid have also recently been spotted off San Diego, Oregon and Washington.

Robert Woodbury with Newport Landing Sportfishing says anglers in Orange County have caught about 400 of the big squid since Friday night.

400 giant squid's caught so far !! Amazing news, why the sudden influx of giant squids in hundreds is anyone's guess. There's a Video with the article if anyone's interested.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by December_Rain


Very cool

I like posts like this, they are interesting.

The giant squid caught my eye, have to say I'm a bit disappointed it's the Humboldt.
Still very cool, don't get me wrong, but I ha a sudden image of a re-enactment of 20,000 leagues with more... realistic effects.

What a morons to catch so many of these giant squids simply for fun. Seriously. Anyhow, it reminds me of a documentary I saw last week in which fishermen were telling their story about catching the first giant squid alive. I am pretty sure they said that these creatures live at such a depth that they are rarely caught, let alone alive.

Originally posted by Mdv2
I saw last week in which fishermen were telling their story about catching the first giant squid alive. I am pretty sure they said that these creatures live at such a depth that they are rarely caught, let alone alive.

Makes one wonder if there are any military excercises that are causing the squid to make for shallow water...

Quite sad to see when animals travel in packs in a different pattern.. the only way we can appreciate them... is to book a trip, and catch and eat them as fast as we can lol
I mean really...im not a vegan or what not, but it seems somewhat sad that SOMETHING has happened that the squid are changing there migration pattern or what not...and bam the "a**hole" humans come out of the woodworks and catch them by the hundreds, maybe thousands.
blah @ humans

Why is everyone upset that ppl are cathing them, no one seems upset that they are being caught by the 100's of 1000's with nets daily.
A few ppl with fishing poles compared to deep sea net fishing trollers don't even compare IMO.

reply to post by kaskade


They're usually found in more southernly waters. What this change means is that the water off the coast of California has gotten warmer - either through climate change, or something caused a current to shift.

Don't worry about the squid. They reproduce in the millions, and are honestly more of a threat to fishermen than fishermen are to them. a couple thousand humboldt squid getting eaten isn't going to hurt them at all, though I fully expect at least a few fishermen and bathers to lose chunks to aggressive mollusks.

reply to post by Doc Holiday


Perhaps you and your buddy who starred your reply should attempt to read the thread.

I'll give you some extra food:

In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid AUD$100,000 (around £47,000GBP or $90,000US) for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that year.[

If they are 'caught by the thousands', do you think this museum would pay so much?

reply to post by Mdv2


OK you win.....

I'll just eat my calamari and be quite.
I don't know the scientific terms at play here but I am petty sure the squid in question are not the species known as giant, but rather the flying/winged squid...but as I say I am not formally edjumacated in the likes...but there are still 100's + caught daily just to provide enough for the appetizers on menu's..


ETA maybe its just me but the title is a bit misleading, I do not think its meant to be the genus of Giant squid just that the article is saying they are big...

[edit on 1-2-2010 by Doc Holiday]

reply to post by Doc Holiday


And enjoy it. Nothing wrong with eating calamari. I am just kind of shocked how stupid these people act. News stations: 'There are hundreds of giant squids around'. People: let's all jump on the bandwagon to catch them. The more the better. They even call it a sport. I really cannot see the purpose, I think its plain stupid. People just do and fail to think these days.

But that's just my personal opinion.

reply to post by Mdv2


Except the article isn't talking about Giant Squid (Architeuthis sp.) but rather the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) which is a squid that happens to be very large compared to most other squid.

The Giant Squid is a rare deep-sea squid. The humboldt is a very common shallow-water species.

Untie the panties.

Originally posted by Mdv2
reply to post by Doc Holiday

 

Perhaps you and your buddy who starred your reply should attempt to read the thread.

I'll give you some extra food:

In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid AUD$100,000 (around £47,000GBP or $90,000US) for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island that year.[

If they are 'caught by the thousands', do you think this museum would pay so much?

You didn't put in a source for your quote - but I'm guessing this one is close enough? It also has a picture..

New squid on the (ice) block

That is a true giant squid - Architeuthis dux. They grow very large, and are very rare (at least they are seldom seen)

The ones they are catching are Humbolt Squid - Dosidicus gigas are a different squid, much smaller and much more common than the giant squid.

The article is just mis-naming them "Giant" - they are big squid - but not the true "Giant Squid".



[edit on 1-2-2010 by Frogs]

As I understand the Humbolt squid are very prevalent in the Sea of Cortez so it comes as no surprise the would be off the coast of California.

They are of a size as to be a danger to SCUBA divers who are attacked by them occasionally. I would not want to dive in waters where there are a lot of them, they are very fast and have a beak that could take a large chunk.

reply to post by Frogs


No the source is from the same article I posted the news from.

[edit on 1-2-2010 by December_Rain]

Originally posted by TheWalkingFox
reply to post by Mdv2

 

Untie the panties.

So Doc Holiday, you were right in the end, not me; these are probably caught by the hundreds or thousands. Either way, I am going to stick to my point that it is ridiculous to catch these for fun.

reply to post by expat2368


During El Nino events, they can range as far north as Prince William Sound in Alaska, though large numbers don't seem to go further north than Monterrey Bay.

They're also only dangerous when feeding. They travel in schools of up to two thousand, and when there's food, it's every squid for itself, so they'll basically drag anything they can get their tentacles onto towards their mouth. Food, divers, other squid, rocks, boats...

reply to post by Mdv2


For fun, yes. For food? Big squid is good eats

I live in the area, and this is a fairly common occurrence this time of year. The Humboldt Squid come up and the party boats go after them. They really are good eating, you get big steaks from them, not little calamari rings. A friend gave me a couple steaks from jumbos he caught out of Oceanside last year. I skinned and peeled them, sliced them into strips, breaded and fried them. Delicious with lemon and tartar sauce!