Swarms of Squid - Oceana USA
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August 13, 2009

Swarms of Squid

The massive Humboldt squid is making news from southern California up to the British Columbia coast. A population boom has divers and scientists worried. Humboldts, also known as giant squid, have been known to kill fishermen and drag divers down, rupturing ear drums and lacerating skin. The population boom may be due to the overfishing of predators such as sharks.Oh, and did I mention that one squid can have 20 million offspring during her lifetime? And they have 35,000 teeth, three hearts and ice blue blood?They may sound like sea monsters – in fact, divers often don chain mail when they dive, like aquatic knights – but these giant cephalopods aren’t as scary as the effects of climate change, overfishing and pollution.