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| Scientists net giant squid in Gulf of Mexico | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 22 2009, 03:30 AM (39 Views) | |
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Sep 22 2009, 03:30 AM Post #1 |
Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
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Scientists net giant squid in Gulf of Mexico Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. The squid, weighing 46.7 kg, was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel, the Interior Department said. The giant squid, which did not survive the rapid change in water depth when brought to the surface, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further study. Scientists aboard - from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service - were participating in a pilot study on the diets of sperm whales. "As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there ... really big," Anthony Martinez, a marine mammal scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the chief scientist on the research cruise, said. Remnants of giant squid have been found in the stomachs of its predators in the waters of the Gulf, Caribbean and Florida Keys so scientists were aware of their presence in the Gulf. The squid discovered by the researchers is significant because the species are difficult to catch, leaving much to be learned about them. Michael Vecchione, director of NOAA's Fisheries Service's National Systematics Laboratory, the squid was an important addition to the worldwide study of squids. "This find illustrates how little we know about what is swimming around in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico," he said. Giant squid, which can be 12 metres long, are usually found in deep-water fisheries, such as off Spain and New Zealand. "This is the first time one has actually been captured during scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico," he said. The joint NOAA-MMS pilot study responsible for the find is part of a two-year, $550,000 study to determine the abundance and diversity of the type of fish and squid that sperm whales seek as prey. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26108373-23109,00.html |
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| Freki | Sep 22 2009, 03:53 AM Post #2 |
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Cephalopods are awesome. I've got footage of a giant squid dissection on my computer.  It was at ... some Melbourne university, I think?Did anyone else see some of the footage the Japanese got? It was a squid attacking a bait, and it had some sort of bioluminescence going on to dazzle prey ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QUt-Rrs6Co found it! |
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| Belle | Sep 22 2009, 09:56 AM Post #3 |
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Squids kinda creep me out. All cephalopods kinda creep me out. |
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9:10 PM Nov 25
