Well then, what do you make of this?
(CBS) BODEGA BAY, Calif. They are deadly, huge and fast moving. Their tentacles can suck the life out of a human being and they’ve arrived in Northern California.
They are giant squid. Nobody knows why, but for three years now fishing boats out of Bodega Bay have been catching the ink spewing fish by the droves.
How sick is this? Bodega Bay is only a few miles from my house! And PZ is so nefarious, so evil, that he started sending those squid here a full year before he had even heard of my blog!
Biologists. Sheesh.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
The article calls the giant squid a “ink spewing fish.” That’s too bad… squids are mollusks. I think the credibility of th rest of the article lies in question.
April 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
what kind of squid is this that can apparently suck your life out with it’s tentacles?
April 5th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
AM is right. It can’t possibly have anything to do with PZ, he would not have let them call squid “fish”
April 5th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Well then, let’s not tell P.Zizzy about the giant asteroid that’s going to hit Minnesota in July.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
They are Jumbo or Humboldt Squid(Dosidicus gigas), not Giant Squid(Architeuthis), and they are mulluscs not fish.
Bad Reporting?
April 5th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
molluscs, not mulluscs
April 5th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode.
George: I’m such a huge whale fan. These marine biologists were showing how
they communicate with each other with these squeaks and squeals, what
a fish!
Jerry: It’s a mammal.
George: Whatever.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
what kind of squid is this that can apparently suck your life out with it’s tentacles?
The Vampire Squid From Hell of course (vampyroteuthis infernalis)
Muhahah.
If the squids are coming in, it probably means water quality is improving.
April 5th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Bodega Bay must be the new Amity Island. Except with a giant killer life sucking squid. (It sucks life?)
April 5th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Bodega Bay? Isn’t that where “The Birds” takes place?
Well, I guess the movie had the right idea. They were just looking in the wrong direction.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Looks bogus to me. Not only are squid not fish, they’re rather rare, and tend to be a lot bigger than the squids mentioned in the article. On top of that, their flesh is full of ammonium chloride…
April 5th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
CBS has it wrong and right. Yes, they are not fish, but they have indeed been hitting the CA coast in droves. A recent article in a local paper described an adventure one of their reporters had when they went out in a fishing boat. The poor guy was worked half to death hauling the squid in…and the ink and the stench nearly finished him.
http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/03.14.07/giant-squid-0711.html
April 5th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Ok, I know all about this story. You all need to know that this whole thing is being caused by this looney guy who built his own submarine and really hates people who live on dry land. He’s chasing these things up from about 20,000 leagues deep with the intention of destroying all us land dwellers.
He must be stopped. If only Kirk Douglas were available…
April 5th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Bear in mind, had the timestamp on the news report been a day earlier I would never have posted this.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
On a side note… please be nice to us biologists, Bad Astronomer. We all mean well.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
And I, for one, welcome our not-at-all-ichthic overlords…
April 5th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Christian Burnham WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???! Now we are going to start seeing cults and anti-scientists popping up all over the place talking about how Minnesota is about to be destroyed by a big rock from the heavens.
Seriously though, it wouldn’t surpise me if this happened.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
# DenverAstro Says:
If only Kirk Douglas were available…
How about Michael Douglas?
J/P=?
April 6th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Is there a Bad Biology blog anywhere I can subscribe to?
April 6th, 2007 at 6:00 am
DenverAstro,
A “league” is about “the distance a man can walk in 1 hour,” say 3 miles. Nemo never traveled more than 5-6 miles deep (http://verne.thefreelibrary.com/20000-Leagues-Under-The-Sea/1-12) Chapter XII-Some Figures. He went 20,000 leagues under the sea, but mostly laterally. The Earth’s equatorial diameter is only 2,642 leagues.
This means if you spent 8 hours a day walking to the center of the earth, you’d get there within 6 months
April 6th, 2007 at 7:02 am
You all have *everything* wrong! It’s not PZ, it’s not Nemo (fish or human)… this is the advance wave of the hordes of Cthulhu!
H.P.L. **tried** to warn you!
E
April 6th, 2007 at 7:11 am
If it is Cthulhu, then we are properly screwed.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Darn it, John Kemeny, you posted my post!
But I suspect DenverAstro used the number to squeeze the title reference in somewhere.
April 6th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Errm, could you be a bit more specific about your address? My squid are floundering about in the bay, and having trouble locating your house.
Better yet, could you go down by the shore, maybe dabble your toes in the water, and shout out “HI THERE! MY NAME IS PHIL!”
Thanks, they’ll appreciate it.
April 6th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Squid have ears?
April 6th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I like my calamari just like Bart Simpson does, with extra tentacles!