Squid !!!

    I was tempted to title this blog Calamari, but that might make me feel like a bit of a cannibal.  The animals I see in the ocean are very special to me and one hates to think that they are dining on one's friends.  The fact is, however, that I dearly love calamari, especially as prepared at the Alexis Greek restaurant on Burnside in downtown Portland.  Lightly dipped in tsasiki, they are a gastronomic piece of heaven. 

A Quintet of Cephalopods,  Kailua Pier,  2012

    Two days ago Sandra and I went to the pier in the early afternoon.  On the drive we saw a lady runner and as we approached, we saw that the pier was the headquarters for a triathlon.  Their were bikes, exhausted runners, supporters in colorful T-shirts offering salt tablets,  water, etc.  And a giant digital timer.  At the time we were donning our gay apparel  (swim shirts, actually...I'm not gay...not that I have anything against gay people, mind you...I'm just not one of them.)  the time on the clock was 5:46.  I have no idea how long it takes to run a triathlon, but the idea of exercising continuously for the better part of six hours seems inhuman.

     As we made our way into the water there were lots of people flopping about, throwing footballs, paddling surfboards, but no suffering triathletes that I could identify.  They must have been out running or biking.  Or maybe they drowned.  (In the words of that famous runner, Forrest Gump, shit happens.)
    You may recall that its been rough lately, so you won't be surprised to hear that in addition to being cool and refreshing, the water was a little cloudy...probably twenty feet of visibility.  So you're probably thinking that if I'm going to tell you about squid (as opposed to what we might have had for dinner the night before) this would be a good time to get around to it.    There was nothing special until we made it out to the third swim buoy, about seventy yards from the beach, when suddenly there were five squid in front of me.  "Squid, squid, squid!"  I blurted through my snorkel and Sandra was right on them, as well.

Notice how this guy has changed color.  Does he like me?

   In thirty years of snorkeling in Hawaii, I had never seen a squid.  My friend Kyle promised me squid when we went night snorkeling  in November, but they failed to show.  I had reviewed them in Hoover's Sea Creatures at that time, so I was prepared.
   This quintet of cephalopods reminded me greatly of the reef squid in the Caribbean, ranging in size from 12 to 16 inches, remarkably brownish.  a couple times one or more would adopt a yellowish hue. I assume the color change was signal to his mates. They stayed together in a school and let us approach to within ten feet.  You can seem my efforts at photography.  I shot 11 pictures and would have taken lots more, but the camera stopped working.  (It might have been a discharged battery or maybe something worse.  When I got home and recharged the battery, it gave an error message: lens malfunction, restart camera.  simply turning it on didn't do the trick but removing the battery and replacing it did...so for the time being we are back in business.)
    Sandra and I watched the squid for about five minutes.  Eventually they got spooked and swam away.  It was quite a treat!  At home, Sandra used the internet to identify them as Bigfin Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana,  which is widely distributed in the indo-pacific.  Like  Bobtail Squid, which according to Mr. Google are more common in Hawaii, they are primarily nocturnal.    

Caribbean Reef Squid,  Bonaire,   Netherland Antilles

      We have seen squid in three other locations.  All three times I've been to the Caribbean I have seen reef squid,   Sepioteuthis sepioidea.  My impression is that they are far more active during  the day than the closely related Pacific species.  The taxonomists who named them noted that the fin goes all the way down the mantle, like cuttlefish.  The scientific name for cuttlefish is Sepia, and Sepioteuthis means something like similar to Sepia, i.e. cuttlefish. 
    The first two times I saw this species, I had not started taking pictures.  The shot you see here was taken two years ago in Bonaire.  That island, still affiliated with Holland, has made itself a fishwatcher's paradise by severely regulating how one uses the ocean.  Basically you are not permitted to touch anything...much less spear fish!  That picture was taken with the old camera, one you can buy on-line for $40.  Pretty good picture considering.  You can see how similar that species is to the Hawaiian cousin.
      I saw Humboldt's Squid, Dosidicus gigas, on a kayak trip in the Sea of Cortez out of La Paz, Baja California.  Several times on that trip we entered bays to find up to a hundred of these large (roughly  four to five feet long!) squid beaching themselves.  Some were dieing on the beach, others were swimming lethargically towards the shore.  I find it interesting that we were encouraged to go snorkeling, as it is apparently well known that Humboldt Squid are quite dangerous to swimmers, grabbing with their long, strong tentacles and biting with their sharp beaks.  According to Mr. Google, the Mexicans call them rojos diablos, or red devils.  In addition to our ha'ole guide, an attractive young woman, were supported by several  Mexican marineros, who must have been aware of the potential danger.  Thankfully, the large reddish brown squid just wanted to beach and die.
     It was a great trip.  There was lots of exercise paddling, we camped on deserted beaches on Isla Espiritu Santo and ate delicious fresh fish that the Mexican guides caught from the pongas while we were in the kayaks.  One day we swam with sea lions!  and I came away with a good saying;  one night our chica bonita guide told us that all guide stories begin with the phrase, "No shit, there I was."  And, no one got attacked by Humboldt Squid...no shit.

Broadclub Cuttlefish,   Bali,  Indonesia    2009

    One more squid and I'll let you go.  Two consecutive years Sandra and I went to Bali.  We liked it so well the first time, that the second year we stayed five weeks.  Our first lodging on that second trip was at Puri Wirata.  For an incredibly small sum, they gave us a room facing the Lombok strait.  Twice a day we would watch the fisherman set to sea in their small lateen rigged boats.  It was idyllic.
     All right, maybe it was a little hot.  Maybe we spent an inordinate amount of time inside our air conditioned room.  But the fish watching was the best.

The breeding cuttlefish were beyond my wildest imaginatio

Like many places in Bali, the beach in front of Puri Wirata was round stones the size of jumbo hens eggs.  Getting in and out of the water was painful.  The Balinese lifted their boats out on that beach barefoot, four guys to a boat. Ouch!  They moved some of the stones to create weighs for launching and we used those paths to enter for snorkeling.    
    One morning, it was overcast  and a little breezy, but Sandra and I were on a mission from God, and so we got the old camera ready, trod the stones and got into the water.  We hadn't swum ten feet when i looked down and, No Shit!, there were two Broadclub Cuttlefish.  Not only that but they were mating!  One was over the other, both held their tentacles stiff at odd angles and they changed colors.  Not like an octopus, going from one cryptic pattern to another.  These lovers were turning brilliant, electric lime green and purple.  Probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen in the water. 
    You are looking at the only two pictures I took.  We did not have extra SD cards and it was sort of like using film , in that I was concerned about using up my space and didn't take a huge number of pictures.  I'm lucky that those two turned out so well.  
    Well I hope you enjoyed my squid stories and I hope you get to go to some exotic locations and look for a squid or two of your own.  In the meantime, see a fish for me.

jeff