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Jumbo squid swims north, imperilling B.C. hake

MARK HUME

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:45 PM EDT 15/05/08

Persistent sightings have some calling for an expedition to determine how many of the predatory creatures exist in Canadian waters ...Read the full article

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  1. mighty conan from Calgary, Canada writes: Kalamari alert... Very Yummy!
  2. Sol Veritas from Calgary, Canada writes: Humans eat squid - do squid eat humans? I've seen the video of the octopus eating the shark, but other than that I'm totally ignorant about these creatures. Any more info that's better than Wikipedia?
  3. Mike B from Canada writes: It would take a salmon if it could catch one. Are there any left?
  4. fire light from middle earth, Canada writes: I have seen a television show where the squid were attacking a diver. Fortunately, he was protected by a wet suit and he was attached to the boat by a rope. One danger was that if they pulled his breathing gear off that he could die. They were also worried that the squid could pull him into the depths. I think they were Humboldt squid, but not entirely sure. I also think he was a bit nuts to be swimming with them as they were getting very agitated and flashing different colours at him.

    Google is your friend.
  5. Linda Dial from Calgary, Canada writes: B.C. Calamari. I think that was on the menu in the twilight zone.
  6. Dick Garneau from Canada writes: Yup, sounds like a good supply of calamari. Go for it B.C. fishermen!
  7. Mr. Reilly from Canukistan, writes: Time to switch from Salmon to Squid.
  8. NA E from Buckhorn, Canada writes: Ths squid will not deplete the fish stocks. Man is the only animal on this planet that preys on it's food stock to extinction.
  9. Tweev D from Canada writes: NA, that is a incorrect view of nature. Every species is doing its darnest to collapse the ecosystem that its is - fortunately they are limited by their ability to do so. Invasive species are good examples as they are frequently responsible for the extirpation of local species.
  10. Jeff Kelly from Kitchener, Canada writes: Tweev, are you serious? Most ecosystems on the planet are self regulating, and undergo natural population cycles that keep things in balance. When there are lots of rabbits, wolves do well, and eat the rabbits back to small numbers. When the rabbits are scarce, wolves die out and allow rabbits a chance to catch up again. That's nature; it went on for millions of years without us. Unfortunately, NA is right, we're the ones who are raping the oceans to the point of extinguishing many fisheries and foodstocks.
  11. Joe Calgarian from Calgary, Canada writes: Arrrr, beware the Kraken!
  12. max from edmonton from Canada writes: Jeff Kelly from Kitchener, Canada writes: Tweev, are you serious? Most ecosystems on the planet are self regulating, and undergo natural population cycles that keep things in balance. When there are lots of rabbits, wolves do well, and eat the rabbits back to small numbers. When the rabbits are scarce, wolves die out and allow rabbits a chance to catch up again. That's nature; it went on for millions of years without us. Unfortunately, NA is right, we're the ones who are raping the oceans to the point of extinguishing many fisheries and foodstocks.
    *********************************************************Sorry Jeff, you are dead wrong.
    Travel to the St Lawrence seaway. If your post was accurate you would not see billions of zebra mussels.

    Or go to Australia, There are feral pigs, camels, cats, rabbits, frogs etc.

    These species are taking over the landscape because there is no natural opposition for them in these unfamilliar ecosystems.

    Certainly most of these interlopers are there due to mankind, but the point is once there, natures normal balance is not enough to regulate things.
  13. Jorly fuster from Canada writes: This is excellent news for the seafood business, they will now have a new type of sea animal to push on people. Thank god for tilapia huh? I mean now that all the sea bass is gone.
  14. MR. oz from Canada writes: Attention Al gore and Dr. Tshibuki!
    clear proof of global warming and the warming on Mars! And all because we are driving SUV,s and not fly our own jets like Al Gore or drive a huge bus like Dr. Tshibuky!
  15. A C from TO, Canada writes: Jeff, What actually is the real difference is that, like you say, ecosystems in the wild are limited by food supply, meaning, some starve and limit the population. As well, when food is scarce, members produce fewer young. Unfortunately, neither of these applies to the human population in democracies. A majority of humans are either overfed, and can easily manage a cutback, or fed enough and can easily transfer resources from the luxury of not "hunting" for food, i.e./ vacationing, doing other mentally / spiritually fulfilling things, to putting a greater emphasis on finding / procuring food. As well, because of the tendency in mankind of the young and healthy to feed and protect the old and sick, which contradicts natural law, human populations produce more offspring in times of disease and strife. These aspects have instilled in us a neverending quest for resources which has, in a positive way, fueled our expansion and commercialism, economically and scientifically. Whether we will reach a limit, which would certainly mean a starvation on a magnitude seen in no other large animal species in the world, fueled by our dependency on each other, remains to be seen. Some say, never. Many fear, within the next few centuries. Hope for the best..... Because we lack the instinct to slow reproduction and allow members to starve, instincts which govern nature, we have no choice but continued expansion and a limit on what many would consider freedoms, such as the freedom to have children (as has been seen in China), rationing of food or conglomeration of our resources and trust into a governing body which makes these hard decisions for us (which we have done, although timidly). Very depressing. I know its Leviathan-esque, and Malthus to a T, but all signs point to it. There are some freedoms that we will soon not be able to afford if we want to maintain our lifestyle, with our consumption, unless new resources are found. It's a choice.
  16. Bob Loblaw from vancouver, Canada writes: I knew this board would be filled with 'clever' calamari comments. The amount of ammonia in these animals' bodies would render them completely unpalatable to humans. It would be like eating a chewy tire sprayed with Windex.
  17. Charlie Chuckletrousers from London, Ontario from Canada writes: Bob Loblaw from vancouver, Canada writes: I knew this board would be filled with 'clever' calamari comments. The amount of ammonia in these animals' bodies would render them completely unpalatable to humans

    Actually the Humboldt squid is apparently quite edible if cooked properly. I think you're thinking of the Architeuthis giant squid which uses an ammonium chloride solution to make it more bouyant at great ocean depths.
  18. harry carnie from Canada writes: Charlie Chuckletrousers....... The Humbolt squid IS edible? GOOD! Sounds DELICIOUS TO ME!
  19. George Khan from Suburbia, Canada writes: Can't wait to have those succulent six-inch fried calamari rings!
  20. harry carnie from Northern,B.C., Canada writes: George Khan........double "yum" on that!
  21. Biggest Redneck from Somewhere, United States writes: Jeff Kelly from Kitchener, Canada writes: Tweev, are you serious? Most ecosystems on the planet are self regulating, and undergo natural population cycles that keep things in balance. When there are lots of rabbits, wolves do well, and eat the rabbits back to small numbers. When the rabbits are scarce, wolves die out and allow rabbits a chance to catch up again. That's nature; it went on for millions of years without us. Unfortunately, NA is right, we're the ones who are raping the oceans to the point of extinguishing many fisheries and foodstocks. Actually it has gone on for millions of years with and without us. It would seem that while some would have us in the God seat it just isn't true. We are a species and we are regulated by nature. There is a school of thought that shows we do succumb to a natural drive which is the reason why when we become more affluent and comfortable we have less children and as we do not feel the need to have as many as the survival rates are higher. We are just another species on the planet and we will use up the resources the same way a wolf will eat all the rabbits and then starve. A few wolves and rabbits will survive and the cycle starts over. We are no different we just operate on a larger scale.
  22. Biggest Redneck from Somewhere, United States writes: The one difference between us and the wolf that I might point out though is that we are intelligent enough to know we are doing and still will do it anyway.
  23. gordon foster from Canada writes: What are the Humboldt squid's natural predators, by the way? Nobody has mentioned any toothed ocean mammals yet...
  24. emilio D from Vancouver, Canada writes: Guys, if you turn these squids into deep fried calamari, the rings would be as big as mountain bike tires. So you better order large because there is no small anyways. Good eating and make sure you order a large size Asahi Japanese beer.
  25. George Khan from Suburbia, Canada writes: No, emilio D, these Humboldts are not that big. The ones you seem to depict here may be either the giant squids or the colossal squids, both being pretty impressive truck-sized beasts, but by no means edible (read Charlie Chuckletrousers' post above). Humboldts are much smaller (7 ft long tops, including tentacles), but extremely aggressive; they wouldn't hesitate before trying to turn a swimmer into a meal if they are hungry and are big enough to inflict really nasty wounds.
    Nonetheless, they would make a wonderful paella!
  26. harry carnie from Northern,B.C., Canada writes: Biggest Redneck..excellent posts......have a pleasant week.
  27. david sandford from Canada writes: squid have a perfect right to live too.
  28. martha stewart from Canada writes: Save the Squid!!!
  29. Paul Thompson from Canada writes: Squid tastes horrible...
  30. larry price from Port Loring ON, Canada writes: Our economic system drives us to consume. Each day millions of people work at corporations where they give their best energy to the consumption and pollution of the host Earth. Can we change? No. It's as if we are caught in a Lemming run to the edge of the cliff.
  31. Bill H from London, Canada writes: I think the downfall of the human population began when we learned to use tools. Our development of tools and, eventually, other technology (especially mediacal technology) is what has allowed us to circumvent the "normal" biological population controls -- infant mortality, short lifespan, and starvation generally.

    Most animals take what they need to satify their immediate hunger and for the most part leave everything else alone. Only humans have learned to use technology to not only strip the oceans of anything immeidately edible, but in the process to destroy the ocean ecology so that there is no chance that food species or any other species can come back.

    It is really hard to imagine what is going to happen if indeed the population does double, but sometime in the future, the human population is going to have to crash.
  32. Commander Groovechild from Toronto, Canada writes: I usually don't eat squid. Cooked squid doesn't last very long before smelling terrible. But I suppose if they squid start eating our fish, it only makes sense for us to eat the squid. I had a feeling giant squid would be the death of our civilization. I suspected it since childhood.
  33. emilio D from Vancouver, Canada writes: Goerge Khan, the humboldt squid grows to as long as 7 feet that's taller than Kobe Bryant who is only 6.6 ft. Because of its spindle shaped body, I would say that the diameter of the body at the middle would be around 24 -30 inches. So you would need a big frying pan to cook it into deep fried calamari. The cook calamari would as be as tough as Michelin hydroedge if over cooked. The best place to find it is at a Greek restaurant who are experts in cooking the best calamari in the business. Cheers!
  34. J Reid from Toronto, Canada writes: Tennyson may have provided a more poignant explanation:

    Below the thunders of the upper deep;
    Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,
    His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
    The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
    About his shadowy sides; above him swell
    Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
    And far away into the sickly light,
    From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
    Unnumber'd and enormous polypi
    Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
    There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
    Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
    Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
    Then once by man and angels to be seen,
    In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die
  35. Har Har from Canada writes: Natures balances itself through extinction. When a new pressure is put on a system it goes out of whack, and takes time to become balanced. Balance can occur through extinction, or size change in populations that is less severe than extinction.

    For millions of years different animals have died off and new species have taken their places.

    Ever heard of evolution? It is the process of one genetic make-up exterminating another genetic make-up.
  36. Jeremy K from vancouver bc, Canada writes: the squid have always been in the ocean. the problem is that man is overfishing the oceans and there is now competition between fishing fleets and the squid for the few remaining fish left in the ocean

    this is as ridiculous as blaming seals for the collapse of the salmon fisheries
  37. Jorly fuster from Canada writes: Yeah, those damned seals. Think they're better than eveybody.
  38. Jacques Lalonde from Montreal, Canada writes: To answer some of the remarks posted earlier - Humbolt squid are;

    - very aggressive and will attack and eat anything, even another Humbolt should it start to show signs of distress.

    - an invasive species, because their occurrence is due to the warming of the oceans (a man-made phenomenon), and much too rapid for the ecosystems to adapt. This has the potential to be the nail in the coffin of West Coast fisheries

    - quite edible; I witnessed one being prepared in an upscale sushi shop in Tokyo and ate some myself a few moments later

    Looks like we have another environmental catastrophe on our hands. At best, we could start commercial fishing of these monsters in an effort to control their population. I would like to think their presence in BC and Alaskan waters is only temporary, but I doubt it...
  39. Swifty J from Mtl, Canada writes: So, to recap: if you like eating squid, you might just live long enough to witness the collapse of civilization as we know it.
  40. martha stewart from Canada writes: Jacques Lalonde writes: "Humbolt squid are... very aggressive and will attack and eat anything, even another Humbolt should it start to show signs of distress."

    That's it. Let's indoctrinate them with various religions and let them kill each other.
  41. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: martha stewart from Canada writes:"Let's indoctrinate them with various religions..."

    Don't leave out the Pastafarians:

    http://www.venganza.org/

    Have you yet been touched by His noodly appendage?

    Ramen, brothers.
  42. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: I have heard rumour of a heretical sect called the Piscefarians who believe in His tentacly appendage. Such apostates must surely perish for the good of Humanity, for is it not obvious that the FSG is not a squid?
  43. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: Jacques Lalonde from Montreal, Canada writes:"... due to the warming of the oceans..."

    Yet the southern oceans are cooling, and the squid are showing up in Chile despite that.

    It might be convenient to blame anthropogenic global warming for anything and everything, but not all such claims actually hold water.
  44. Jacques Lalonde from Montreal, Canada writes: To GlynnMhor of Skywall; the following article entitled 'Southern Ocean warming faster than others' might be of interest to you;

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/22/2098439.htm

    This explains why the Humboldt appeared off the coast of Chile around 2002 and is now being seen in the North Pacific.
  45. martha stewart from Canada writes: Verily I say unto you... There will be a great flood and the squid shall inherit the earth. But first the water needs to be warmer.
  46. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: Jacques: Here are the NOAA monthly southern hemisphere ocean mean temperatures, clearly seen to be declining from their peaks in the early 2000s

    http://tinyurl.com/6xfrj5

    The article to which you linked was about a single vessel running mostly between Hobart and the Antarctic, a small (very small) slice of the ocean.
  47. Commander Groovechild from Canada writes: I would prefer not to eat the squid at all. The taste isn't good. I am no expert in wildlife management, but I'm thinking if we lure the queen squid out into open water, all of the baby squidlings will be forced to follow her. Then we can ram the whole lot of them with ice breakers.
  48. martha stewart from Canada writes: GlynnMhor - So you are saying that the water does not need to be warmer for the squid to inherit the earth?

    According to some radical squid sects it does. But the polygamist squid claim that the only important thing is not to eat fish on Sunday. Other say Friday.

    In the meantime, the hake are trying to stir things up.
  49. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: martha stewart from Canada writes: "GlynnMhor - So you are saying that the water does not need to be warmer for the squid to inherit the earth?"

    Ramen to that, sister!
  50. martha stewart from Canada writes: GlynnMhor - Could they eat polar bears too?
  51. Jacques Lalonde from Montreal, Canada writes: To Martha Stewart; I'm not sure that the Humboldt Squid would eat polar bears too, but why don't you go dive off of a BC fishing boat in a shiny swimsuit and ask the Humboldt squid yourself...
  52. martha stewart from Canada writes: Jacques Lalonde - I don't speak squid and the water's too cold.
  53. Steve Church from Canada writes: Jacques:- You're right about the Southern Ocean warming, and it's not just a slice route observation error: "It could be global warming, it could be the ozone hole, and it could be natural variability. Our best evidence at the moment suggests that all three are playing a role," Dr Rintoul said. He says the warming ocean waters are causing the Antarctic ice to melt more rapidly. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/18/2221062.htm
  54. Steve Church from Canada writes: Jacques:- Even Cthulhu deserves better than that. The Humboldt have been expanding for a few decades (there's a Baja documentary around - Sea Hunters?). Three factors bear on the expansion - decline of food supply, decline of competitive predators in adjacent territories, and the warmer water conditions. You're sure right about the eating - it's like chewing rubber bands in a petroleum jelly sauce.
  55. Steve Church from Canada writes: Big Redneck:- There is no inherent magic to ecosystems balance, and yes species have been predated to extinction. The forces driving to extinction are no different than with evolution - Fill, Ill, Chill, and Kill. A field experiment illustrated the relationship: http://tinyurl.com/4znqu3 A google search on 'predator causes extinction' draws up more examples. The highlight is that human predation had an extra efficiency rating and deliberateness, and once the industrial revolution took hold, it gained global reach.
  56. Paul Thompson from Canada writes: I've heard of fishermen in tropical waters being more terrified of falling overboard when there were Humboldlt squid around than would be the case with sharks.
  57. John Doucette from Manotick, Canada writes: I was reading the Jumbo-Squid Post last week. (owned by the stupid, greedy Aspersquid family) It said that they were moving north to escape the pollution in the southern Pacific caused by all those 2 legged vermin along the coasts of Mexico and California.
  58. D K from Canada writes: "Tweev D from Canada writes: NA, that is a incorrect view of nature. Every species is doing its darnest to collapse the ecosystem that its is - fortunately they are limited by their ability to do so. Invasive species are good examples as they are frequently responsible for the extirpation of local species."

    Wrong. Only the ones that man introduce that are not native to the area
  59. Tweev D from Halifax, Canada writes: Sorry DK, you don't know what you are talking about and obviously have no formal training in ecology. Nature is not inherently balanced but frequently exists in a dynamic equilibrium. The competition between species makes it appear as if there is purposeful balance to it but really it just everyone fighting as hard as they can to survive that makes it look that way.

    A famous examples is the northern lynx / hare example or lemmings where consistent and spectacular population crashes occur which are not sure to human influence. This is because the lynx and lemmings are not using their resources attainability. Not surprising.

    In these simple ecosystems there is simply not enough pulling from multiple species due to the inherently simple northern terrestrial ecosystem (hence an argument for the importance of maintaining biodiversity). Ecosystem balance is only able to happen because everything is trying it's hardest to survive and reproduce as much as possible. Animals don't harvest things in a sustainable manner - it just looks that way. -- and it is frequently sustainable because (almost ironically) because every species is operating in an unsustainable manner.
  60. martha stewart from Canada writes: Tweev D - Excellent post. Enough of the 'balance of nature' myth. Change is the only constant.

    Are you familiar with the exploding wolf population in the western US and its impacts on its prey populations? Dramatic. Yellowstone is becoming the best case study for why the mythical balance of nature is, well, mythical. But so far the 'official' story is a cover up.

    Now, back to my silliness on this topic.

    My research has also found a direct correlation between the northward expansion of Red Lobster restaurants and the occurence of Jumbo Prawns in Canada.

    This expansion has largely happened during the recent warming phase so its obviously related to climate change. perhaps all those people driving to those restaurants did it.
  61. Tweev D from Canada writes: Balance is a poor word - I do believe in dynamic equilibrium which many people interpret as balance. Many ecological systems are outside normal equilibria (which isn't necessarily bad but certainly can be).
  62. martha stewart from Canada writes: Tweev D - Agree. The trick is to understand the 'normal' range of variability over the longer term.

    To use your example, I'm expecting one day to see an alarming story here about the 'catastrophic' decline in the snowshoe hare population, complete with quotes from the newly formed Save Our Hares Alliance. Later they'll take credit for the miraculous recovery.
  63. GlynnMhor of Skywall from Canada writes: The southern oceans are cooling, not warming, as the NOAA site clearly shows:

    ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/anomalies/monthly.ocean.90S.00N.df_1901-2000mean.dat

    http://tinyurl.com/6xfrj5

    And indeed the whole southern hemisphere, not just the oceans, is also cooling quite noticably:

    http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/nhshgl.pdf

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