[economex]

World
Home > Breaking News > World > Story
Feb 2, 2010

Giant squid invade California



The Humboldt squid can grow up to 45kg and 1.8m long and follow food sources. --PHOTO: AP

NEWPORT BEACH (California) - GIANT squid weighing up to 27kg 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. The animals weigh between 9 and 18kg, but a few fishermen have reeled in 27kg 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 45kg and 1.8m long and follow food sources. The squid have also recently been spotted off San Diego, Oregon and Washington, all on the US West Coast. Robert Woodbury with Newport Landing Sportfishing told The Orange County Register that anglers in the Southern California county have caught about 400 of the big squid since Friday night. -- AP

[economex]

Giant squid

Invasion of the Giant Squids

by Mike Krumboltz 9 hours ago

Giant squids! Sorry to startle you, but we're just so excited. You see, they're giant squids! And they're invading California beaches by the hundreds! And in a heavily attended press conference this morning, they announced plans to star in their own reality show!

OK, so maybe that last one hasn't happened (yet), but the rest of it is the honest-to-god truth. An article from the AP explains that the squids weigh up to 60 pounds each, but most tip the scales somewhere between 20 and 40 pounds. And, yes, they squirt ink when irritated.

Web searches on the giant squids (GIANT SQUIDS!) are already off the charts. One-day spikes on both "giant squids" and "giant squids in california" surged from near-zip into the thousands. Folks clearly want to see these gargantuan creatures for themselves.

Despite their intimidating heft and tendency to spew ink, the squids aren't scaring off local fishermen. As of today, around 400 of the giant squids have been nabbed by anglers. That number is likely to rise. An article from San Diego 6 explains that locals "started booking twilight fishing trips over the weekend to catch them."

The last time the giant (aka “jumbo” aka “Humboldt”) squid made waves in Search came last September, when a record-breaking 19 ½-foot-long, 103-lb beast was pulled from the Gulf of Mexico. Now they're back with a vengeance. Wanna see the new ones for yourself? MyFoxLA hosts a collection of photos of nabbed squids.

[55TRATTERENRY]

Amazing I love stories like these !

Thanks brother yellow people .

It's great to see nature has a fighting chance .

[Qualarrizab]

Divers have reported being attacked by the Humboldt squid, with tentacles enveloping their masks and pulling at their cameras and gear Photo: ALAMY


Humboldt squid, which can weigh up to 45kg (100lb) have entered shallow waters off San Diego, California. Photograph: Visuals Unlimited/Corbis


Photo credit: Dana Rene Bowler (Ventura County Star)


Jumbo flying squid have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, California, spooking scuba divers and beachgoers after washing up dead on the beaches.
Stories of close encounters with the squid have chased many divers out of the water and created a whirlwind of excitement among those torn between their personal safety and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with the deep-sea giants.
The so-called Humboldt squid, named after the current in the eastern Pacific, have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red colouring and mean streak. Divers wanting to observe the creatures often bait the water, use a metal viewing cage or wear chainmail to avoid being lashed by the creature's tentacles.
The squid, which is most commonly found in deep water from California to the bottom of south America, hunts in schools of up to 1,200 individuals, can swim up to 15 mph and can skim over the water to escape predators.
"I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti," said Mike Bear, a local diver. "For all I know, I'm missing the experience of a lifetime."
The squid are too deep to bother swimmers and surfers, but many experienced divers say they are staying out of the surf until the sea creatures move on.
Roger Uzun, a veteran scuba diver and amateur underwater videographer, swam with a swarm of the creatures for about 20 minutes and said they appeared more curious than aggressive. The animals taste with their tentacles, he said, and seemed