Squid invasions signal changes in the Pacific Ocean
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Squid invasions signal changes in the Pacific Ocean
In the Pacific, jumbo squid have moved to new waters, signaling
changes in the ocean, scientists observe.
A diver photographs a Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) in its native
waters off the coast of Mexico. The jumbo squid, which can grow six
feet long, has been appearing as far north as Alaska. Scientists
theorize that changes in oxygen levels in the Pacific Ocean have
allowed the squid to flourish in new waters.
NEWSCOM
.Enlarge Photos (1 of 2)
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PrintBuzz up!PermissionsEmail and shareRSS.By Moises Velasquez-Manoff
Staff writer of the Christian Science Monitor / December 15, 2009
When large numbers of jumbo squid first showed up in California’s
Monterey Bay in 1997, scientists weren’t sure what had brought the
cephalopod that far north. An unusually strong El Niño event had
warmed the eastern Pacific. But the squid, dubbed el diablo rojo – the
red devil – in its native waters off the coast of Mexico, didn’t
typically venture farther north than Baja California.
And indeed, within two years, the Humboldt squid – Dosidicus gigas –
had disappeared from central California waters.
But in 2002 – another El Niño year – they reappeared. This time, they
took up permanent residence and pushed even farther north – past
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, until, by 2004, fishermen
near Sitka, Alaska, were hauling them in.
When scientists dug through historical records, they discovered that
the squid’s northward advance wasn’t entirely unprecedented. There
were accounts from the 1930s of the creatures in Monterey Bay. But
never in numbers comparable to what scientists observed now – schools
many hundreds strong. And no one had ever seen them as far north as
Alaska.
“This occurrence has gotten weird enough to not really make it into
the realm of ‘normal,’ ” says John Field, a fisheries biologist with
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Santa Cruz,
Calif ... (cont)