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  2. Finding a big dead thing would be the highlight of anyone's day

Finding a big dead thing would be the highlight of anyone's day

By pharyngula on July 11, 2007.

Usually, on my morning walk, I keep my eyes open for any squid that might have washed up on the sidewalks of Morris. Now I learn that the squid wash up on the beaches of Tasmania. I suppose a place nearer an ocean is a more likely spot. (By the way, TONMO is the site to check for more news on the beached squid carcass—and they think it is unlikely that it's actually a giant squid.)

Maybe I should start scanning for dead baby mammoths, instead.

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According to zoologist Genefor Walker-Smith:

For anyone thinking of a calamari feast, Walker-Smith said giant squid contain high levels of ammonia in their bodies as a buoyancy aid.
"It would not taste very nice at all," she said.

There goes that idea.

By Reginald Selkirk (not verified) on 11 Jul 2007 #permalink

And as fresh water is less dense than salt, a hypothetical Minnesotan fresh-water giant squid (Architeuthis pharyngulae) would need to be even more ammoniacal - and even less edible - in order to remain buoyant.

Er, not that anyone is trying to create such a beast, of course. Certainly, there is no reason to suppose that such a project would take place at UMM. Nor would it be funded by monies diverted from the university catering budget under the misleading account name "PROJECT LUTESQUID".

Sometimes kitty-cats leave half eaten sparrows on my street.

I thought it rather resembled Rupert Murdoch. Sorry to the squid.

From the article:

The colossal squid, only recently discovered, is shorter than the giant squid but much, much nastier.

Nastier? How do they know? Have they been seen taking lollipops from small children? Perhaps the specimens they've found have just been having a bad day. Being caught in fishing nets, and dragged across the ocean away from the tentacles of your loving squid-spouse and larvae does tend to put a damper on things. Even worse if you discover you're going to be microwaved later.

Bob

Squid? Yawn. Wouldn't you rather read an article about Great-tits?

By Reginald Selkirk (not verified) on 11 Jul 2007 #permalink

Why should Skatje have to do the baking?

Additional nitpicking: The "Colossal Squid" was not found recently, Mesonychoteuthis was described in 1925. Also of interest is that Gerald Wood's Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats (1982) mentions a Dr. Anna M. Bidder at Cambridge who possess(ed?) a section of pen from a Mesy estimated to come from an individual with a ~16 foot mantle, similar to O'Shea's estimate of a 4 meter mantle length maximum. There apparently was a preserved specimen in the British Museum with a mantle length of ~3 meters.

Of course, all of these remains did come from Sperm Whales, fresh ones are much more exciting. I'm baffled as to why evidence suggesting Colossal squids apparently went by unheralded for so long.

Hey, I knew Anna - and that she had been a marine biologist in her youth - but sadly I never got to see any of her specimens. It's a small world...

> and they think it is unlikely that it's actually a giant squid

Hi -- this is tonmo, from TONMO.com. I was the one who thought that it looked more like Mesonychoteuthis than Architeuthis. The TONMO.com community has convinced me otherwise!

...Thanks PZ for the acknowledgement! B-)

"Nor would it be funded by monies diverted from the university catering budget under the misleading account name "PROJECT LUTESQUID"."

Which suggests that Minnesotans might not actually mind an ammonia-infused calamari dish.

If they eat things steeped in lye, why not ammonia?