Giant squid gnaw on the North American west coast

First it's severed feet terrorizing the Pacific coast, now it's giant squid.  Giant flying squid attacks!  As the Guardian puts it, "Swarms of carnivorous giant flying squid terrorise southern Californian coast."

Let's just say that again, and savor it: swarms.  Of carnivorous.  Giant.  Flying squid. 

There is much pulpy, Gothic monster goodness to be found in this story.

Jumbo flying squid have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, California, spooking scuba divers and beachgoers after washing up dead on the beaches.

("Spooking" sounds about right)

The carnivorous cephalopods, which weigh up to 45kg (100lb), came up from the depths last week, with swarms of them roughing up unsuspecting divers. Some reported tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.

What kind of squid is this, precisely, o Guardian?

The so-called Humboldt squid, named after the current in the eastern Pacific, have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red colouring and mean streak. Divers wanting to observe the creatures often bait the water, use a metal viewing cage or wear chainmail to avoid being lashed by the creature's tentacles.

As one Outside article puts it:

a powerful, outsize squid that features eight snakelike arms lined with suckers full of nasty little teeth, a razor-sharp beak that can rapidly rip flesh into bite-size chunks, and an unrelenting hunger...
It has a rep as the outlaw biker of the marine world: intelligent and opportunistic, a stone-cold cannibal willing to attack divers with a seemingly deliberate hostility.

Did we mention that they are cannibals, feeding on each other?  And that their ferocity can drive away other, lesser predators?

For those who think the Canadian severed foot connection is a stretch?  Know that these friendly giant! flying! squids! have been sighted in Puget Sound.  As the News Tribune puts it, "Aggressive eating machines spotted on our coast."

Here's one story, taking place further south.  Note that one name for the Humboldt Squid is Red Devil, or Red Demon:

This fisherman was pulling up a large calamar, but there was a large demon feeding on it. You see, they are fierce and they even eat each other when caught. When the fisherman reached into the water to pull it in, the Diablo Rojo grabbed him and pulled him into the water. Somehow the man grabbed onto his boat. He tried to get back in, but the Red Demon attacked him and began eating him alive. The man held on for a long time during the struggle before he was finally ripped off and dragged into the deep. He was devoured alive by the Red Demon.

In fiction, one Doktor Zed reminds us of H.G. Wells' story, "The Sea Raiders" (1896).  Elsewhere in the cultural world, response from the tentacle porn community has been muted.

(via SquidFilter)

Comments

[Andy Havens]

Can't we just get these flying! carnivorous! giant! deadly! communist! squids to attack the legions! of jellyfish that also threaten our oceans and sanity?

[Bryan Alexander]

What a movie treatment, Andy!

Now, let's remix real-life Gothic a little. Who would be behind the severed feet *and* squid? Could they be using decaying Detroit as a base? Did they announce something by that mysterious northern Canadian boom, or by smacking Jupiter around?

[Steve B]

Now, let's remix real-life Gothic a little. Who would be behind the severed feet *and* squid? Could they be using decaying Detroit as a base? Did they announce something by that mysterious northern Canadian boom, or by smacking Jupiter around?

It's Infocult: The Movie!

[Bryan Alexander]

Steve B, you have triggered something truly awful in my mind.

[Steve B]

My work here is d/o/n/e/barely started.

*bows*