Did global warming kill giant squids

Reuters ^ | 10-11-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

LUARCA, Spain (Reuters) - Global warming could be behind the mysterious deaths of giant squid off the north coast of Spain, a marine biologist has said.

Experts at a marine life protection centre in the northern region of Asturias said that of the 40 giant squid recorded in the area since 1962, three had been found in the past month.

"The increased sightings of dead giant squid could be due to various factors, from (military) manoeuvres to pollution and global warming," Angel Guerra, of the Spanish Institute of Scientific Research, told Reuters on Friday as he dissected one of the squid in an attempt to establish why it had died.

The giant squid, the mythical monster of the deep that attacked Captain Nemo's Nautilus in the Jules Verne adventure "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", is believed to lurk in cool waters at a depth of between 600 and 2,300 feet (180-700 metres).

Scientists say warm water will cause a giant squid to rise to the surface and not be able to get back down, which is why they are probably more likely to be found in cooler water.

Giant squid are the world's largest invertebrates which can grow up to almost 60 feet (18 metres) in length and weigh up to two tonnes. No specimen of the creature, whose eyes can be as large as a human head, has ever been studied alive.

One of the giant squid the biologist was cutting up in Luarca was the first male of the species -- also known as Architeuthis Dux -- ever seen so far south.

"The fact that no males had been found here could be due to the abundance of females versus males, and the fact that they live apart until they come together to reproduce in a deep shelf off the coast of Asturias," he said.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Squids in the Balance

[Voltage]

I hope so. They attack submarines! At least in the movies.

[ChadGore]

Did global warming kill giant squids . ..can't be, Nadler is still around.

[Blood of Tyrants]

It is the cow farts that are killing the squids.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

I almost put Nadler's mug on this post ...

[WaveThatFlag]

Imagine a world without giant squids...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I think global cooling is what killed the squid. The earth is heading towards another Ice Age. We must do everthing in our power to keep it warm.

[Desdemona]

Ummmm...not to dunk this theory in cold water, but is this only happening in the North Atlantic or is it happening in the southern parts of the Pacific, too? That's the only place scientists have found ANY alive. And they were larvae.

[VOA]

bump

[patriot5186]

ah...some more ecologist guessing..."could be"?
maybe the lack of males depressed all those females so they offerred themselves up to the spanish calamari gods.

[Ben Bolt]

Red tide? Anybody know a missing overheated giant squid?

[Larry Lucido]

Oh, the humanity! Um, I mean, the squiditity!

[Dick Bachert]

[DiamondDon1]

Is anyone collecting these giant squid? Properly prepared they can be tasty...

DD

[Brian Mosely]

...and all this time I was blaming Kirk Douglas...

[Notforprophet]

I'll oblige!

[yoe]

When was the one caught in the picture posted? :)

Over fishing is one main cause. Global Warming is a myth. Nature is simply doing what she has always done and I don't think the squid is being effected; more like competition for food and the needed space from humans...elephants are having the same problem.

[El Sordo]

We know virtually nothing about these creatures other than the fact that some whales think that they're yummy.

It's a bit early for this kind of speculation.

[js1138]

Lots of dead giant squids are found every year. No one has ever been able to document sighting a live one.