Giant squid caught by fishermen off Huntington Beach, California
Ten giant squid were caught Tuesday night by fishermen off Huntington Beach, a coastal city in Orange County, California, and might be part of an influx of the massive creatures that can grow to six feet in length and weigh more than 100 pounds, according to Green OC website's article posted by environment editor Pat Brennan.
The article says that eight squid were caught from one boat and two from another, citing Natalie Brown of the Newport sport fishing company, Davey’s Locker.
A large number of giant squid, also called jumbo Humboldt squid, was washed up in La Jolla in California on Saturday.
The fishmen said that the squid move around and resist being caught, jetting water through their siphons.
“When they propel themselves, that’s where you get the action from,” said Norris Tapp, captain of the Freelance out of Davey’s Locker from which two squid were caught. “It’s fun to catch them, a lot of fun.”
Tapp said the squid caught from his boat were likely about 15 pounds and four to five feet long (see photo below).
Squid are typically in the 3-foot and 50-pound range off Southern California. Scientists who study the Humboldt squid say they appear periodically in large numbers off Southern California for reasons that still aren’t clear.
"Mass strandings have been happening in La Jolla since 2002, Eric Hochberg, curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History who has studied the squid, said, and might be related to the squids’ penchant for grunion; they could be pursuing the grunion too close to shore, then getting rolled ashore by the surf."
Some believe that this time their appearance on the beach off La Jolla is related to the 4.0 magnitude earthquake that shook the San Diego suburb. But Hochberg and other scientists said they thought a connection was unlikely.
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