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Did global warming kill giant squids
Reuters ^
| 10-11-02
Posted on 10/11/2002 12:21:42 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
LUARCA, Spain (Reuters) - Global warming could be behind the mysterious deaths of giant squid off the north coast of Spain, a marine biologist has said.
Experts at a marine life protection centre in the northern region of Asturias said that of the 40 giant squid recorded in the area since 1962, three had been found in the past month.
"The increased sightings of dead giant squid could be due to various factors, from (military) manoeuvres to pollution and global warming," Angel Guerra, of the Spanish Institute of Scientific Research, told Reuters on Friday as he dissected one of the squid in an attempt to establish why it had died.
The giant squid, the mythical monster of the deep that attacked Captain Nemo's Nautilus in the Jules Verne adventure "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", is believed to lurk in cool waters at a depth of between 600 and 2,300 feet (180-700 metres).
Scientists say warm water will cause a giant squid to rise to the surface and not be able to get back down, which is why they are probably more likely to be found in cooler water.
Giant squid are the world's largest invertebrates which can grow up to almost 60 feet (18 metres) in length and weigh up to two tonnes. No specimen of the creature, whose eyes can be as large as a human head, has ever been studied alive.
One of the giant squid the biologist was cutting up in Luarca was the first male of the species -- also known as Architeuthis Dux -- ever seen so far south.
"The fact that no males had been found here could be due to the abundance of females versus males, and the fact that they live apart until they come together to reproduce in a deep shelf off the coast of Asturias," he said.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: calamari; cryptozoology; giantsquid; globalwarming; kraken; squids
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Squids in the Balance |
To: Oldeconomybuyer
I hope so. They attack submarines! At least in the movies.
2
posted on
10/11/2002 12:22:28 PM PDT
by
Voltage
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Did global warming kill giant squids . ..can't be, Nadler is still around.
3
posted on
10/11/2002 12:22:49 PM PDT
by
ChadGore
To: Oldeconomybuyer
It is the cow farts that are killing the squids.
To: ChadGore
I almost put Nadler's mug on this post ...
To: ChadGore
Imagine a world without giant squids...
To: Oldeconomybuyer
I think global cooling is what killed the squid. The earth is heading towards another Ice Age. We must do everthing in our power to keep it warm.
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Ummmm...not to dunk this theory in cold water, but is this only happening in the North Atlantic or is it happening in the southern parts of the Pacific, too? That's the only place scientists have found ANY alive. And they were larvae.
8
posted on
10/11/2002 12:28:35 PM PDT
by
Desdemona
To: Oldeconomybuyer
bump
9
posted on
10/11/2002 12:28:45 PM PDT
by
VOA
To: Oldeconomybuyer
ah...some more ecologist guessing..."could be"?
maybe the lack of males depressed all those females so they offerred themselves up to the spanish calamari gods.
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Red tide? Anybody know a missing overheated giant squid?
11
posted on
10/11/2002 12:33:37 PM PDT
by
Ben Bolt
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Oh, the humanity! Um, I mean, the squiditity!
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Comment #14 Removed by Moderator
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Is anyone collecting these giant squid? Properly prepared they can be tasty...
DD
To: Oldeconomybuyer
...and all this time I was blaming Kirk Douglas...
To: Oldeconomybuyer; ChadGore
I'll oblige!
To: Oldeconomybuyer
When was the one caught in the picture posted? :)
Over fishing is one main cause. Global Warming is a myth. Nature is simply doing what she has always done and I don't think the squid is being effected; more like competition for food and the needed space from humans...elephants are having the same problem.
18
posted on
10/11/2002 12:59:28 PM PDT
by
yoe
To: Oldeconomybuyer
We know virtually nothing about these creatures other than the fact that some whales think that they're yummy.
It's a bit early for this kind of speculation.
19
posted on
10/11/2002 1:07:53 PM PDT
by
El Sordo
To: Desdemona
Lots of dead giant squids are found every year. No one has ever been able to document sighting a live one.
20
posted on
10/11/2002 1:16:49 PM PDT
by
js1138
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