Giant Squid Hitches Free Ride to the Marquesas

Cruising World ^ | 09 Jan 2007 | Michael Lovett

[Señor Zorro]

Wow.

[dfwgator]

I guess he just couldn't handle living in Bikini Bottom anymore, next to Spongebob.

[T.Smith]

He'd probably like to move so far away that he can brag about it. He'd probably rather tear out his brain stem, go out to the nearest four-way intersection and jump rope with it than go on living where he does now.

[OESY]

The giant squid has the largest eye in the natural world. Although squid's eyes evolved on a separate branch of the tangle bank of life, they are remarkably like ours, except that they don't have the blind spot that human eyes have. This picture is from a book 'Extreme Nature' by Mark Carwardine. This immature female is 17 foot long, but they go up to 49 foot apparently.

.

[F-117A]

A clue?

[pcottraux]

[Joe 6-pack]

Remora, perhaps?

[A knight without armor]

If that picture is real it is just incredible to me. That is just unbelievable. I'm astonished!

[Miss Marple]

That is just creepy. Creepy, creepy, creepy.

[Phsstpok]

Actually, I would not be shocked to learn that this squid was in the midst of being attacked by a whale or two and [as is their defense] latched onto the passing boat mistaking it for a whale.

Your post conjured up a whole sequence for me. 

The squid is being attacked, maybe fleeing from one or more whales, as you suggest, when something looms up in front of it. 

It can't dodge and decides to fight back so it reaches out and embraces it's tormentor in a death grip and thinks (the squid equivalent of) "all right, you bastard, you may kill me but I'm taking you with me." 

But the opponent doesn't fight back.  It just continues to travel on, away from the pursuers. 

"Fine, you want to play it that way!  See if I care.  I'm not letting go.  You're doomed, whale boy!" it thinks, then leans against the hull of this ship and sighs, waiting for death. 

Many hours (or days) later the squid realizes that the thing it's grappled with isn't trying to kill it and and has taken it out of range of the pursuers.  With difficulty the suckers are loosened and it falls away, exhausted, but alive. 

The last thing it thinks before moving away quietly is "Just Damn!  That was lucky.  I wonder what the hell that thing was?  Big dumb fish if I ever saw one.  Next time I'll have to see if it tastes good."

[mware]

[Miss Marple]

I find it interesting that all three of us clicked on this thread. We must be getting tired of the ugliness on the forum, and figured no one would be ranting on this one!

LOL! At least, that was MY reason!

[COBOL2Java]

"Clear eyes. Wow..."

[mware]

LOL, I hear you, people are a little testy tonight aren't they.

I have taken to watching old episodes of The Rifleman tonight.

Hey check out this squid.

[Miss Marple]

HA!

I have on ALton Brown cooking duck. I won't even eat duck, but it's better than watching the news shows.

I think I will switch to EWTN.

[mware]

The beak of one of the colossus squid.

[mware]

Raymond Arroyo will be on at 8. He often has interesting interviews. With the march for life coming up this weekend it should be interesting.

[abner]

Geeze... That link!

I just spent 4 hours reading the entire site!

[monkapotamus]

Popeye's giant squid smackdown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh1EXxxYgGM

[mware]

pro life World Over, pings.