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Shoals of giant squid are invading the Californian coast, providing rich pickings for fishermen. Giant squid weighing up to 60 pounds (27 kilograms) have swum into waters off Newport Beach and are being caught by sport fishermen by the hundreds. The squid were noticed last week and fishermen started booking twilight fishing trips to catch them the huge creatures. Robert Woodbury, from Newport Landing Sportfishing, told the LA Times that the anglers come in two main types: those hungry for the relatively pricey delicacy, and the sports angler eager to tangle with a feistier sea creature. "Most of the fish...

Carrying the remains of a roughly 30-foot (9-meter) giant squid in her jaws, a female sperm whale, with a calf at her side, swims near the surface off Japan's Bonin Islands (map)in the northwestern Pacific. Taken on October 15, this and other "absolutely sensational" new pictures offer rare proof of the sperm whale's taste for giant squid, said giant squid expert Steve O'Shea of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. The pictures may also reveal that adult sperm whales, which grow up to 59 feet (18 meters) long, use pieces of their prizes to teach youngsters how to...

Dozens of large squid are reportedly washing up dead on the central Oregon coast near Heceta Head. Oregon State Parks and Recreation spokesman Chris Havel tells the Oregonian his office is hearing reports of dozens of what are probably Humboldt squid. He says they're typically much more common in warmer waters around Santa Cruz, Calif. Humboldt squid have also showed up recently in waters off the Washington coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington state and British Columbia's Vancouver Island. Commercial fishermen in the strait complained the giant squid were grabbing the salmon right off their...

Palaeontologists have drawn with ink extracted from a preserved fossilised squid uncovered during a dig in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. The fossil, thought to be 150 million years old, was found when a rock was cracked open, revealing the one-inch-long black ink sac. A picture of the creature and its Latin name was drawn using its ink...

What have you got to smile about? Meet the amazing piglet squid who always looks happy By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 18th July 2009 He could almost be a new Mr Men character with his rotund shape, cute curls and shy smile. [Pic in URL] But this is really a piglet squid caught in a rare image on camera. His tentacles made what looks like a mop of curly hair over his large eyes while his skin patterns created a grin. Grinning: The piglet squid, about the size of an orange, gets its name from its tuft of tentacles and rotund...

SAN DIEGO (July 17) - Jumbo flying squid — aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles — have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

Thousands of jumbo flying squid - aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles - have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

Jumbo Humboldt squid wash up minutes after 4.0 earthquake hit off the coast of La Jolla It was an odd start to the morning in La Jolla. First residents were jolted out of bed at 7.34 a.m. by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered 19 miles out to sea. First residents were jolted out of bed by an earthquake, which is not uncommon in San Diego, but what happened just minutes later was a little fishy. “I was having coffee up on the balcony and I felt it shaking,” Kate Lutkemeier said. She wasn’t the only one. “I heard...

Octopus and squid can hear. The discovery resolves a century-long debate over whether cephalopods, the group of sea creatures that includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses, can hear sounds underwater. Compared to fish, octopus and squid do not appear to hear particularly well. But the fact they can hear raises the possibility that these intelligent animals may use sound to catch prey, communicate with one another or listen out for predators. The question of whether cephalopods can perceive sound has been controversial since the early 20th Century. Some experiments suggested that blind octopus seemed able to locate the sounds produced...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". calamari • \kah-luh-MAHR-ee\ • noun squid used as food Example sentence: Ophelia tried fried calamari for the first time from a small seafood shack near the beach. Did you know? The word "calamari" was borrowed into English from 17th-century Italian, where it functioned as the plural of "calamaro" or "calamaio." The Italian word, in turn, comes from the Medieval Latin noun "calamarium," meaning "ink pot" or "pen case," and can be ultimately traced...

Teamwork Between Shining Bacteria and Squids Evolved? by Brian Thomas, M.S.* Certain strains of bacteria, named Vibrio, can establish a mutually beneficial link with a squid by a single gene switch, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin.1 Could this precisely specified biochemistry really have evolved from the comparatively “simple” switching-on of just one gene, as their study suggests? Vibrio bacteria have a well-orchestrated capacity to interact with specialized tissue found on the bobtail squid and the Japanese pinecone fish.2 A biochemical “conversation” takes place between animal and bacteria whereby the animal’s specialized tissue secretes a gummy substance that...

Dolphins are fantastic sea chefs who have mastered the art of rustling up a soft meal of calamari, say scientists. The intelligent sea mammals have been spotted going through precise and elaborate preparations to rid cuttlefish of ink and bone to produce a soft meal of calamari. Australian researchers observed one wild female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin The research team, writing in the science journal PLoS One, said they repeatedly observed a female dolphin herding cuttlefish out of algal weed and onto a clear, sandy patch of seafloor. The dolphin, identified using circular body scars, then pinned the cuttlefish with its...

An underwater camera at an oil and gas drilling site off the coast of Texas has captured a rare sight: a squid with "elbows."

A fishery cooperative in Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, sells a rather unique New Year's greeting postcard — you can eat it. Season's greetings: An employee of a fishery cooperative of Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, shows off dried squid that can be used as New Year's postcards. KYODO PHOTO It is made of dried squid, a local specialty of the town. The flat, vacuum-packed squid is wrapped in paper on which the sender pastes a sticker with the recipient's name and address. The postcard can be sent through the ordinary mail. The cooperative usually produces only 3,000 of the postcards every year, but...

Researchers in Northern California are dissecting what appears to be a rare giant squid found this week near Monterey Bay. The squid was 25 feet long and had tentacles as thick as a human leg. Researchers are fairly certain it's a giant squid, as opposed to another type of cephalopod.

Australian fishermen net 500-pound squid 4 hours agoMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian fishermen have hauled up a 20-foot-long giant squid off the country's southeastern coast.Skipper Rangi Pene said Monday that the 500-pound squid was already dead when it was caught in a trawler's nets Sunday night in waters more than 1,640 feet deep.Paul McCoy, a fisheries research biologist, said it took 10 men to lift the squid onto a stretcher and place it in a storage freezer in the city of Portland. A museum will collect it this week.McCoy said an analysis by the museum would determine the type...

WELLINGTON (AFP) - The largest squid ever caught began to reveal its secrets Wednesday, including beach ball-sized eyes that scientists said were the biggest known in the animal kingdom. The 495-kilogram (1,090-pound) colossal squid -- accidentally caught by a fishing boat in Antarctic waters in February 2007 -- is slowly thawing under the fascinated gaze of a team of scientists at the Museum of New Zealand. While defrosting took longer than expected Wednesday, one of the earliest revelations were eyes measuring 27 centimetres (11 inches) across with lenses of 10 to 12 centimetres in diameter. In comparison, a human eye...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Marine scientists in New Zealand on Tuesday were thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught to try to unlock the secrets of one of the ocean's most mysterious beasts. No one has ever seen a living, grown colossal squid in its natural deep ocean habitat, and scientists hope their examination of the 1,089-pound, 26-foot long colossal squid, set to begin Wednesday, will help determine how the creatures live. The thawing and examination are being broadcast live on the Internet. The squid, which was caught accidentally by fishermen last year, was removed from its freezer...

WASHINGTON – They definitely aren’t your garden-variety calamari. The jumbo squid now lurking off the Pacific Northwest coast could threaten salmon runs and signal yet another change in the oceans brought on by global warming. The squid, which can reach 7 feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, are aggressive. They’re thought to hunt in packs and can move at speeds up to 15 mph. In Mexico, they are known as diablos rojos, or red devils. There have been reports that they’ll attack divers when threatened. No one knows why they started appearing in increasing numbers off Washington state...

Blumenthal On the Boil