Humboldt squid at Cove 2 today ...

[Grateful Diver]

Maybe about 6 feet long. A fisherman pulled it up, and by the time I saw it it was laying, dead, on the surface next to the fishing pier.



That's a LOTTA calimari ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[scottsax]

Of all sea creatures, the Humboldt squid terrifies and fascinates me second only to the Great White shark. I would LOVE to see one in the water.


Umm...maybe...

[spatman]

whoa. i had no idea that humboldt squid were in the sound!

[Joshua Smith]

Yeah, that's news to me. Cove 2 might be getting more interesting, huh?

[LCF]

Yipes -- do we have to start wearing chain mail gloves, like the guy in the video?

[Nwbrewer]

[lizard0924]

Oh for the love of God....one more thing for me to think/worry about when I'm diving....."uh, what is that shadowy thing up ahead? big jelly? six gill? OMG....man-eating squid"

Wonderful.

[loanwolf]

It was not uncommon when I was a kid to catch them. You still see thier egg clutches all the time when diving, but most of us do not know what we are looking at. They are not like the clutches in California, see pic, but much smaller for the most part. They have always been here things are just beginning to get back to somewhat of a norm from a century of over fishing and exploitation. There are two events that bring the sharks into the sound and always have. The migration of the California Fur Seals up here to pup and the breading of the squids brings the sharks into the sound. But due to over fishing the squids have been very rare for many years now. In California their is really one main time no one gets in the water and that is about now. When the squid are breading and the sharks are feasting on them. It is really cool to watch but scary as hell to be in the water when it is going on. On the bumbometer scale of things to do that one ranked pretty high. We did not know what was going to take a bit out of us. I was so mesmerized by the spectacle while cruising slowly on the scooter that I totally forgot I had a camera with me.

[spatman]

You still see thier egg clutches all the time when diving, but most of us do not know what we are looking at. They are not like the clutches in California, see pic, but much smaller for the most part.

those look like market squid eggs.

[loanwolf]

You still see thier egg clutches all the time when diving, but most of us do not know what we are looking at. They are not like the clutches in California, see pic, but much smaller for the most part.

those look like market squid eggs.

A market squid is at most 6" long and its eggs look the same as do all squids but are by far much smaller as the squid is much smaller. The Humbold eggs in the picture are over 6" long and larger than a Market Squid themselves. If you look closely you will see Grant on a scooter hovering over the mass. The mass was about 6' wide and about 20' long of eggs that were 6-8 inches long. It was really cool to see.

[spatman]

The Humbold eggs in the picture are over 6" long and larger than a Market Squid themselves. If you look closely you will see Grant on a scooter hovering over the mass. The mass was about 6' wide and about 20' long of eggs that were 6-8 inches long. It was really cool to see.

i didn't see the diver at first. those eggs are definitely much bigger. how deep were you when you found that cluster?

[loanwolf]

It was at about 60' and thier were hundreds of clusters like that in the whole bay. This was the morning after the carnage of the night before and we ran out a mile then headed west then back in. Covering almost 3 miles total trip.

[gcbryan]

Nice!. I'm glad you always travel with camera these days Bob! Now get out there and be the first to get a picture in the water.

I guess I'm glad to know that I could see one at Cove 2. Ok, Humbolt Squid, Mola-Mola, and Pacific Electric Ray on the possible to see around here list!

[airsix]

Wow, Bob! When I read the thread title I thought it was going to be a joke. Wow...

[Scubak]

Holy Critters Dive Buddy!!!
Wow!!!
It seems that this is the time of year that we get these "weird" creatures in Puget Sound.
A couple of summers ago was a Mola Mola (Sunfish) at Redondo and the summer before that was an Electric Ray.
So who knows?
Facinating. I bet Russ at MAST would like to know this as well as the Fish and Wildlife Dept.
Way too cool!!!
Kirsten

[Dusty2]

I have read that they have been moving north and have been spotted off the Oregon coast but this is the first I have heard of them being in the sound!

[Matt S.]

Man, that is cool! I was lucky enough to see the mola mola at Redondo, but this would have been the cat's pajamas.

I thought it was unusual when Humboldt squid moved up from Mexico to California... Never heard they made it to OR too. Wow. Glad they are here now; the CA dive charter that goes out to see them charges a BUNDLE for a dive.

[Tom Nic]

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..."

[pogiguy05]

So does this mean this is more proof that global warming is real?

[John Rawlings]

So does this mean this is more proof that global warming is real?

No.

[loanwolf]

You have to remember one thing how long have we been keeping good records on both sports and commercial fish catches? Current to 10yrs ago very good, 10-20 good, 20-30 okay, 30-100 crap. If you talk with the old timer fisherman they did not want records kept of anything especially any by-catch. Take the 6 gill that was fished to almost extinction in the early 1900's. Today we are seeing 12-14 footers now. Now that some of the records, what little thier is of those days have been research it was not uncommon for a 28 footer to be pulled in. The squid were common in coastal waters, but US coastal waters were so heavily fished that they were fished out. There is no commercial fishing allowed to speak of in the PS anymore, Especially draggers. Also both sports and commercial fishing is so heavily regulated on the coasts that sea-life stocks are coming back. Things that have not been in the waters out here for 70 -100yrs are now coming back. This was far before any agency was looking at what we had in our waters. We do not really know what was here back 50+yrs ago with any real accuracy, only speculation as good records and research methods did not exist. Today to get the records thier are now they have a person from F&G on each commercial boat counting what comes up both catch and by-catch. We are only beginning to see new/old stuff out here. Some of the things they are finding in Alaska are big news today to all but the old timer Indians who say we used to catch them years ago. Now those folks who are pro global warming are saying "see look at this, This is due to global warming". Is it or is it not? Who knows, thier are not enough official records other than first hand knowledge that exist and that for the most part is gone today as most who had that type of knowledge are dead and so is that info. So what we are left with is speculation, So lets see what happens. I think this is a great time we have no idea of what is going to happen.

[Grateful Diver]

So if there isn't so much commercial fishing in Puget Sound anymore, how come all the wrecka in the Sound have fishing nets all over them? Some of those nets don't look so old ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[loanwolf]

So if there isn't so much commercial fishing in Puget Sound anymore, how come all the wrecka in the Sound have fishing nets all over them? Some of those nets don't look so old ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

There is a difference between commercial and Indian. Most of the nets are quite old. They are nylon and will last centuries in the water.

[Penopolypants]

Do you know where I was when the mola mola was spotted?

Georgia.

Do you know where I was when the humbolt squid was found?

Georgia.

Clearly I should come home more often. My parents would be delighted and everybody but me would see more cool stuff. ](*,)

[Zen Diver]

Let us know when your next trip to Georgia is so we can start planning....