Jake asked me to share this story with you...

Giant Squid in Bonaire??

Well.....maybe not. On August 14th, this squid was found by a friend of ours, rolling around in the surf in front of our house half dead. We were not home at the time and the person who found it put it into one of our outside freezers. By the time I got home that evening it was frozen. We measured it at 3 feet long but because it was frozen the two long tentacles had shrunk considerably. The man who found it said it was purple when still alive. I contacted three naturalists on the island but none of them could identify this squid. I spent many hours, that week, on the internet, trying to find an identification with no luck. I also e mailed several specialists in the field of Cephalopods. On Sunday evening, August 18th, I finally found a picture of a squid on the web that looked extremely similar to the squid that our friend had found. A Humbolt squid, Dosidicus.

Humbolt Squid
Beached Humbolts

The next morning I received a e mail from Michael Vecchione, a specialist in Cephalopods from the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. He identified the squid as a member of the family Ommastrephidae (the flying squids). " From your photo, my best guess is that it is the "orangeback flying squid", Sthenoteuthis pteropus, because it appears to have a large light organ under the skin on the dorsal mantle. If it doesn't have such a light organ, it is probably the neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii." I e mailed Michael Vecchione back requesting more information and he kindly sent me 2 papers he has published on the flying squids and also explained to me that the Dosidicus is in the same family but only found in the eastern Pacific.

As Caren Ekrich from Sea and Discover said when our mystery was solved....... . Isn't the
internet an excellent resource?

Wow!!! What a great report and the articles are equally fascinating. Also a great piece of detective work. Truly amazing. Thanks for sharing it all with us. Corney Ann

What story! But is it dangereous when they attack you?And what are you doing now with this squid? Not to eat I suppose.

Adriaan

I'd love to see THAT swimming along while diving! Thanks for the post, Ellen.

Thanks for sharing that Ellen.. very interesting..

Thanks, Ellen. Both articles were very interesting. Last year while vacationing in Cozumel and grocery shopping, we saw very large pieces of squid in the fish/seafood section, like nothing I had ever seen underwater. Now your info and related articles makes me think it must have been squid of the size seen in your photo and in the second article.

Adriaan, the squid is still in our freezer. We have no plans to eat it! I have never heard of anyone being attacked by squid in Bonaire. The squid you will see while diving here are these cuties.....

Great shots, Ellen (as usual!). What equipment is it that you used for these two shots? Hope to see you again Thanksgiving week, too! Carole

Once again Ellen has a VERY Interesting life!

Hi Ellen,

Very nice your pictures! I am, also like Carole, curious what kind of equipment you are using.
So the squid will not come out the freezer at night.. (ha ha)!

Hi Carole! I used a Sony DSC P1 digital camera with Sony's marine pack housing.

Ellen, I just think it's amazing that you shlep your poor pet squid,around. Sally looks pretty happy with that exotic dancer's fan, but Sammy...if those were real coral and not one of those wallpapers you use to make us jealous of your supposed backyard, well, Sammy would jet on out of that scene.....Don't worry, I'm bringin' your medicine with me....but of course you'll have to admit that the pictures were taken where you really live...some computer hangout in Poughkeepsie!

Kerri, have you been sipping a bit too much Wogga Wogga this afternoon in celebration of Cecil and Cynde's birthdays??

Ellen,
Great squid photos - those make me feel even better about buying one of those cameras for Geoffrey.

We're down to 39 days and counting until Geoffrey gets to try his out himself. I can't wait!

Susan

Kerri, I know Ellen doesn't live in Poughkeepsie, she's got way too much good taste (not of squid, though!). She can walk right into the water in front of her house and take pictures at Something Special, and she even took pictures of me there -- brave woman! I even saw the actual frozen squid. Very neat (it did make me hungry, though. Squid is one of my favorite food groups, right up there with Mint Chocolate Chip icecream. Just not on the same plate, though.

AWESOME shots..u r so talented Ellen..

I too adore Calamari........hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Nite nite

Annie
Cape Cod

Perhaps this will be the next new squid see on Bonaire.



URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1723000/1723595.stm

Interesting find, Glen. I notice the comments about the squid were written by Michael Vecchione, he was so helpful to me in identifying "our" squid.

I was one of the lucky ones who saw those giant squids sail past me in the water. It was startling to say the least!! There were two of them for sure, and each appeared to be the size of a human being. They were not menacing. In fact, they seemed to be in a hurry and paid no attention to the divers. We were at Small World or Small Wall. The squid were headed north. I wasn't scared because they were gone before I realized what i had just seen. If they had hung around, I would have been terrified.
Has anyone seen the remaining one in recent weeks?
Was there more than the two? I would love any/all follow-up info.
thanks,
mimi

Mimi,

Don't find other words from a giant squid see-er here. Report, please!!!