Scientists are watching for flying jumbo giant squids off the
coast of British Columbia. Last year the Royal B.C. Museum
obtained 11 Humboldt squid specimens -- which previously had not
been seen that far North. The Globe and Mail reports that fishermen
fear the creatures and for good reason:
Some descriptions from witnesses sound like the plot to a horror movie -- water roiling with tentacles; otherworldly creatures suddenly launching into the air from beneath the surface; nightfall bringing to the surface vicious predators that slip back into the depths at daybreak, like vampires of the sea.
A Humboldt squid can grow to the size and weight of a hockey player. So, imagine Todd Bertuzzi with bulging eyes, eight arms, two tentacles, three hearts, a beak for a mouth, a brain wrapped around his esophagus and gullet with a willingness -- nay, eagerness -- to dine on his own kind every other meal, and you get a sense of how the squid has earned such a fearsome reputation.
Mexican fishermen call the creature el diablo rojo -- the red devil.
Dave Barry's Blog offers a humorous take on this story.
