Jumbo flying squid found off Alaska is first of the species recovered
from British Columbia waters
By Associated Press | October 15, 2004
SITKA, Alaska --A large Humboldt squid caught offshore from Sitka is
among numerous sightings of a species seen for the first time in
waters of the Far North, and the first of the species recovered from
British Columbia waters.
The 5-foot Dosidicus gigas, or jumbo flying squid, was shipped this
week to California to be kept for research at the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History.
The squid was one of a number caught with a dip net by fisherman Alan
Otness and his crew on Sept. 18 as they baited longline gear at
night. They brought back some of the creatures for examination by
experts.
Eric Hochburg, curator of the Santa Barbara museum, said the species
is usually found off Baja, Calif., and farther south.
The farthest north the species has been reported until this year was
off the coast of Eugene, Ore., in 1997, said James A. Cosgrove,
manager of natural history at the Royal British Columbia Museum.
Before that year, the farthest north it was seen was near San
Francisco, he said.
Until this summer, there have been no other sightings in the north,
Cosgrove said.
"It's unprecedented," he said. "It speaks of a fundamental change in
the ocean along the coast."
The museum is keeping a 6.5-foot, 44-pound Dosidicus gigas in a
formaldehyde tank. The purple-bodied cephalopod with eight sucker-
covered arms and two curly tentacles was caught Oct. 2.
Since news of that discovery was made public, Cosgrove has received
seven reports of sightings since late July of jumbo squid in
northwest waters from Oregon to Alaska. Beside the Sitka catch, the
squid were spotted near Yakutat and Kodiak Island.
"We'll try to get a handle on are they moving north with warmer
waters, and then do they die out as they head north, or does the cold
water constrain their northward movement?" Hochburg said.
from British Columbia waters
By Associated Press | October 15, 2004
SITKA, Alaska --A large Humboldt squid caught offshore from Sitka is
among numerous sightings of a species seen for the first time in
waters of the Far North, and the first of the species recovered from
British Columbia waters.
The 5-foot Dosidicus gigas, or jumbo flying squid, was shipped this
week to California to be kept for research at the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History.
The squid was one of a number caught with a dip net by fisherman Alan
Otness and his crew on Sept. 18 as they baited longline gear at
night. They brought back some of the creatures for examination by
experts.
Eric Hochburg, curator of the Santa Barbara museum, said the species
is usually found off Baja, Calif., and farther south.
The farthest north the species has been reported until this year was
off the coast of Eugene, Ore., in 1997, said James A. Cosgrove,
manager of natural history at the Royal British Columbia Museum.
Before that year, the farthest north it was seen was near San
Francisco, he said.
Until this summer, there have been no other sightings in the north,
Cosgrove said.
"It's unprecedented," he said. "It speaks of a fundamental change in
the ocean along the coast."
The museum is keeping a 6.5-foot, 44-pound Dosidicus gigas in a
formaldehyde tank. The purple-bodied cephalopod with eight sucker-
covered arms and two curly tentacles was caught Oct. 2.
Since news of that discovery was made public, Cosgrove has received
seven reports of sightings since late July of jumbo squid in
northwest waters from Oregon to Alaska. Beside the Sitka catch, the
squid were spotted near Yakutat and Kodiak Island.
"We'll try to get a handle on are they moving north with warmer
waters, and then do they die out as they head north, or does the cold
water constrain their northward movement?" Hochburg said.
