discom- Bob -bulated Squid
Posted by:: "Frater Lollard III"
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 10:44:43 -0500
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Dead Squid Wash Up in California Again
www.latimes.com
Fri Mar 18, 7:13 AM ET
U.S. National - AP
DANA POINT, Calif. - Dead jumbo squid
are again mysteriously washing up along Orange
County's coastline, baffling scientists who are trying to find out why.
The Ocean Institute in Dana Point has conducted some of
the research, shipping specimens to the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History and Stanford University for further study.
Scientists at the institute this week dissected a 5-foot-long,
15-pound female Humboldt squid that was filled with parasites
and sand. More than a 100 squid have been spotted since
Sunday between Dana Point and San Clemente.
Still, there are no answers. "We still don't know what's killing
them," said Linda Blanchard, lab director of the Ocean Institute
who has dissected about a dozen squid since they first
washed up ashore in January. "All we have right now are theories."
(....perhaps they should consider to ask Dr. Hal ?)
Scientists believe the squid are swimming north from
Mexico to follow food sources, forcing them to come
closer to the surface and shore. Squid normally live
and hunt 3,000 feet below the water's surface.
Eric Hochberg, curator of invertebrate zoology with
the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, said
an active fishing industry in Mexico may be depleting
the squid's diet, causing them to migrate into Southern California.
He said the squid possibly are discombobulated by sand churned up by tides.
Meanwhile, William Gilly, a biologist at Stanford's Hopkins
Marine Station in Pacific Grove, is studying their stomach
contents to determine whether the squid are being poisoned.
Even if scientists cannot discover why the squid are
washing up ashore, they hope to learn about the mollusks'
diet, where they spawn and the biology of their beaks.
"Before the squid were found dead on the beaches in
the quantities that they have, we weren't studying them
as hard as we are now," Blanchard said.
In January, about 1,500 Humboldt squid washed up
on the Orange County coastline about a week after
an oil spill from an undetermined source coated more
than 1,000 seabirds off the Southern California coast.
The squid were found on the sands of Laguna
Beach, Newport Beach and Crystal Cove State Park.
Some were spotted in northern San Diego County,
at San Onofre State Beach.
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It's the END TIMES!
Posted by:: Ljutefisk Geist
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:42:36 GMT
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In article <1d4b$423af773$d1cc501c$27582@snip.allthenewsgroups.com>,
snorkiechom@yahoo.com says...
> "Before the squid were found dead on the beaches in
> the quantities that they have, we weren't studying them
> as hard as we are now," Blanchard said.
FNARR