The first Squid-A-Day is my very own study organism: Dosidicus gigas, the Humboldt squid! They seem to be mellowing out as they move north; after causing serious media hullabaloo in San Diego all summer, they squeezed only six sentences out of the Associated Press with their arrival in Washington State.
The AP gets kudos for calling Humboldts "large" not "giant" (giant squid are an entirely different species) and knowing that they eat "small fish" not "humans" (as other sensationalist news outlets have sometimes claimed).
However, the statement that "The[y] get sluggish and die in cold water" missed fact checking as well as copy editing. There's no scientific evidence for that claim. In fact, Humboldt squid routinely migrate down to cold, deep water to do their hunting, so Washington's 59°F surf needn't pose any kind of problem.
Comments
Yeah, what is with the narwhal thing? I don't know for sure what's behind squid popularity--I think the Cthulhu connection helps--but I'm going to ride the wave as long as it lasts, and probably longer.
Danna Staaf | 09/01/09 | 20:17 PM
Squid are not just a flash in the pan (although they are delicious that way). I shall have to pass on the photos I took at the British Museum of squid art throughout the ages.
Josh Witten | 09/02/09 | 09:40 AM
I have a t-shirt that reads "I was into cephalopods before they were cool" and invariably elicits one of two responses:
"Have cephalopods ever not been cool?"
OR
"Cephalopods are cool now?"
Danna Staaf | 09/02/09 | 10:39 AM
will you also let us know which are the ones with the better taste, once stir-fried or cooked otherwise ? Of course they are interesting also while still alive, but I tend to be pragmatic -the only squids I met so far were all dead and ready to be cooked ;-)
Welcome,
T.
Tommaso Dorigo | 09/01/09 | 23:58 PM
Oh. Darn. That's an octopus, not a squid. But I bet you get that a lot.
Hank Campbell | 09/02/09 | 01:46 AM
Danna Staaf | 09/02/09 | 10:46 AM
J Q | 09/02/09 | 11:22 AM
But the profile picture was taken in the evening, when I came out in full display patterning:
Danna Staaf | 09/02/09 | 23:14 PM
I guess you already played 'build your own squid' which was better than Spore, not solely because it was free and did not require weird internet verification to play it.
Hank Campbell | 09/02/09 | 23:44 PM
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/322/5901/531b
'Build your own squid' was pretty awesome, but I can't remember what I named mine, so I can't find it now...
Danna Staaf | 09/03/09 | 00:04 AM
Love your column. Welcome to the site!
Kimberly Crandell | 09/03/09 | 20:35 PM
I say if your kids start wanting homemade costumes, tell 'em to make their own! =) I began making costumes at an early age, usually involving a lot of glue, tape, and safety pins. Some were disastrous, but some were cool, and I learned a lot about functional design and construction.
Danna Staaf | 09/04/09 | 10:51 AM
Wait, you are seriously going to do a squid a day? That's pretty awesome.
Welcome to the site!
P.S. Why are squid so pop culture-ish these days? They're no narwhals, which are apparently the Harry Potter of marine life in 2009, but I keep seeing a lot about them.