Mysterious squid deaths investigated

Reuters ^ | Wednesday, September 17, 2003

[presidio9]

Scientists are trying to find out what caused two enormous squids, one of them 40 feet long, to wash up dead on Spain's northern coast this week.

"It's not a natural death and it's not the Prestige," Luis Laria, president of marine protection agency CEPESMA said, referring to a massive oil spill from the Prestige tanker late last year. He declined to speculate on the cause.

[dirtboy]

marine biologists said global warming could be to blame for the mysterious deaths.

Never has such a dubious concept been so broadly applied without any semblence of empirical evidence...

[LTCJ]

and marine biologists said global warming could be to blame for the mysterious deaths.

And I could speculate it 'twas ingrown toenails what did 'em in... and with the same degree of scientific evidence backing me up.

Sheesh.

[Hodar]

Attack of the Calamari Killers

[UCANSEE2]

More likely is that some kind of toxic waste was tossed overboard and the squids ate it.

[presidio9]

More likely we have no idea what killed them and no business speculating. No one has ever seen a live giant squid, and only about 20 carcasses have ever been discovered (their flesh has the same density as water). In any case, I, too found the global warming speculation humorous. Maybe the undersea alieans from "The Abyss" killed them. We have as much documentation that the aliens exist as we do for so-called "global warming."

[Cicero]

Most likely it was Nationalized Health.

[been_lurking]

It's not a natural death and it's not the Prestige," Luis Laria, president of marine protection agency CEPESMA said

And he knows this because of the vast amount of scientific research and study conducted on the giant squid.

I thought there was still a bounty on the first video/photographs of a live giant squid. We have not even seen one alive yet, but we know what is a natural death and what is not.

[mhking]

Maybe Marinara poisoning!?

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Andonius_99]

...lives at depths of up to 6,562 feet.

my only question is this: at depths that deep, is it really necessary to be that precise? Goobera$$ reporters...

[steveo]

is it really necessary to be that precise?

It works out to be 2000 meters.

[Sacajaweau]

This is what happens when squids explore sub surface volcanos. Can you tell me how they KNOW that they weren't natural deaths?? BUT could speculate on global warming as the cause??

It's like my friend whose father died. The coroner said he had to put down a "cause of death" and asked the son to speculate on the cause of his fathers death. How about old age? he said (The father was 83). That wasn't good enough for the coroner and he wrote "heart failure".

[Madame Dufarge]

I think "Enough, already" should become an official Cause of Death category.

[machman]

Three of the little-known creatures washed up in the area about a year ago and marine biologists said global warming could be to blame for the mysterious deaths.

In other breaking news, a dairy cow died in Wisconsin, a Polar Bear died in Canada, a Wombat died in Australia, a goat died in Greece, a hippo died in Africa, a dolphin died off the coast of Peru, and Notre Dame's offense died on the field of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor Michigan last Saturday afternoon.

Scientists studying these cases said global warming could be the cause for these mysterious deaths.

8^)

[Republicus2001]

Also a woman has claimed to hear human voices coming from a transistor radio!!! (film at eleven)

[Procyon]

...lives at depths of up to 6,562 feet.

Well, now we know. Squid descended to 6,563 feet and their self-destruct mechanisms activated.

[Tacis]

The Eurinals are still fabricating the facts but, I am certain that the deaths of these precious squid are directly caused by President Bush's refusal to sign the Kyoto Agreement.

[lawdude]

"... said global warming could be to blame for the mysterious deaths. "

But the probability is global warming is not the cause. What is more probable is that something, completely non-environmental IS the cause.

Like maybe they committed suicide from having to put up with stupid environmentalist tricks!

[lawdude]

"...is the world's largest invertebrate and lives at depths of up to 6,562 feet. "

They turn into whale shit at a depth of 6,563 feet.

[Invasionofthebodysnatchers]

HMMM-he made no mention of a slight glow?


DANGER FROM THE ABYSS -
ON A JOURNEY OF NO RETURN

Another Chernobyl off the coasts of Norway (Bear Islands), the Nowaja Semlja Islands, and the coasts of France and Africa should occur at any time now. Russian experts have been warning Western leaders from Europe, the USA, and Africa for months.

The German news station ARD and ZDF informed German citizens in December 1992 during a special program of the radioactive time bombs in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the Fall of 1992, Russian experts had made three dives down to the Russian nuclear submarine Komsomolez that sank on April 7, 1989, 250 kilometers southwest of Norway's Bear Island after a fire on board. The diving crew filmed the badly damaged submarine at a depth of 1685 meters. A special underwater camera, directed by a robot-like computer detected one of the torpedoes with its bright yellow head evidently between the torn vessel. Russian submarine chief engineer Nikolai Nosov gave his alarming news to Moscow officials soon thereafter. Both propeller reactors ofthe submarine have released radioactive cesium-137. Also the salt in the sea has been corroding the exposed torpedoes.

According to Nosov and his engineering team, the recovery of the vessel is a matter of urgent necessity. Plutonium will leak in great amounts into the ocean. "Once the plutonium reaches the ocean currents the outcome will be unthinkable," says another Russian marine engineer.

Former Society General Nikolai Mormul presented more film footage - the Russian nuclear sub K-8 that sank on November 12, 1970, 800 kilometers west of the French coast. The evidence, showing a badly deteriorated K-8, demonstrates clearly that a recovery is too late and that the catasphrophic results are unstoppable. The leakage of plutonium from the Komsomolez will be 100 times worse that that of Chernobyl according to General Mormul.

The nation of Western European leaders so far has been demonstrately calm. The French Minister explained laconically that they are aware of the K-8 situation, but have to think of their tourism and fishing industry. Knut Gussargard, Director of the Norwegian Nuclear and Safety Institute, turned away with the excuse, "If news of radioactively contaminated water and fish spread around, it would have disastrous economic results on the Norwegian Fishery and Fish Export Industry."

The US Defense Department also showed little interest and no support at all for the current situation. Pentagon experts preferred to leave the sunken vessels where they are now. They referred back to their difficult expedition in 1974 when they tried to recover the Society nuclear submarine PI-722 from the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 5000 meters. Only parts of the vessel had been recovered and the salvage vessel, Glomar Explorer, had great difficulties. At that time the interest was geared toward recovering three nuclear warheads of the Serb-Racets and the Chiffrier machinery. The end result had not been very successful. Part of the aft of the vessel and the bodies of six Soviet sailors were recovered. The recovered contaminated bodies were sewn into special nylon cloth, put together in a metal casket that was completely sealed and then returned to the sea.

Russian and western scientists and officials held several special meetings. Pentagon officials have explained that a recovery of any sunken nuclear submarine from the past 30 years is beyond reach. Efforts to recover the US nuclear submarines, Tresher, that sank in 1963, and the Scorpion, that sank in 1968 off the coasts of New Jersey and West Africa respectively have failed. To recover the Komsomolez with a length of 122 meters and a weight of 9700 tons is much to dangerous and is now out of the question.

Nuclear experts from Sweden, Denmark, and Germany pointed out that high leakages of plutonium beginning in the next few years will have devastating effects on plant and animal life in the oceans. On top of this, we also have to face all of the nuclear waste that has been sealed in barrels and dumped into the oceans without any precautions for the past 40 years.

The latest measurements on cesium in the waters off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware are 260,000 times higher than the measurements after the fallout test explosions on the bottom of the oceans off the West California Coast right now.

The deadly danger from the sunken Komsomolez has given British nuclear experts a clear picture. The Nitrogen-cooled reactors of the Soviet submarine have been filled with 1450 kilograms of uranium-235 and the torpedoes each carry 8 kilograms of plutonium-239.

During the Pentagon meetings, Lothar Hahn from the Oceanographical Institute to Darmstat, Germany warned the officials to take the outcome very seriously. Plutonium befalls the plant life and will be consumed by fish. Through migration and ocean currents, it will reach other parts of the ocean and the world. People eating fish will be contaminated. Fishermen will also be contaminated when processing the fish.

So far the public has been kept in the dark to avoid panic. And since nobody seems to care, or make any effort to clean up, tomorrow looks dark and deadly.