No one knows why dozens of jumbo squid washed up on a southern California beach on Saturday, although an earthquake occurred in the area about an hour earlier. Still, experts don’t know if there’s a link between the ‘quake and the beached squid.
The conundrum has puzzled the area’s residents, including one woman who said she’d never seen anything like it in the 42 years she’d lived in the area. The jumbo squid do venture into shallower depths at night, according to LiveScience:
During the day, the somewhat mysterious jumbo squid are known to descend to lower depths in the ocean to rest, slowing down their metabolism to deal with the lower oxygen levels there. At night, they return to well-oxygenated waters nearer the surface to feed.
Beachgoers tried to throw back the squid, which measured up to four feet long, before seagulls could feast on them. But for many of the marine creatures, the attempt was futile.
Check out this video of the stranded squid:
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