The Red Devil

The Humboldt Squid

By Stuart Thornton

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Inside the Hopkins Marine Station’s Gilly Lab, Dr. William Gilly stares at black-and-white footage of a Humboldt squid. The new footage was gathered using a Crittercam, a camera designed to be mounted on a wild animal. The clip shows a squid interacting with other members of itsspecies. In the distance, other squid flicker and flash like disorienting strobe lights.

Gilly, a professor at Stanford University, often works out of his lab at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. Hopkins is a Stanford-affiliated marinelaboratory located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the university’s Palo Alto campus.

In 2009, Gilly and the crew of National Geographic Channel’s Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barrtraveled to the Gulf of California to attach soda-bottle-sized Crittercams to Humboldt squid, which can be up to two meters (six feet) long.

According to Gilly, who has studied the strikingcephalopods for more than two decades, the first Crittercam fastened to a Humboldt squid’s body didn’t stay secure for very long. “The squid lasted about two or three minutes,” he says. “Then, all of a sudden, there were 20 or 30 other squid just attacking it. So they ripped the camera off and ripped the whole sleeve that held the camera onto the squid and just tore the whole thing off the squid. Luckily, the whole camera assembly was buoyant, and we ended up getting it back.”

Poem, Dr. William Gilly and the Humboldt Squid

By john hardin

Dr. William Gilly and the Humboldt Squid

Willy Gilly studies squid

Squidly studies Willy did

The squid he studied were quite jumbo

And might taste quite good in a gumbo

And since they’ve become quite abundant

He thinks perhaps they should be hunted

He doesn’t know how folks will take

To giant calamari steaks

Or if sportsmen would care at all

For a trophy squid upon their wall

But later than soon or sooner than late

You’ll see that squid upon your plate

So you might try this tasty treat

Before there’s nothing else to eat

Humboldt Squid – Dosidicus gigas

Facts:

Description

Also referred to as the jumbo squid, the Humboldt is one you do want to recognize. They aren’t as long as you would think with a name like that though. They only get to be about 7 feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds. They grow extremely fast though so those new offspring can get very large in a matter of months as long as they have enough food to nourish their bodies.

They have the ability to change their colors from shades of red to shades of purple and then white as well. Some people used to believe this was for hiding but it is now believed it is for communication purposes. Due to the different colors the Humboldt squid is often misidentified.

World Range & Habitat

Jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas, can be found at depths between 200-700 meters in the waters of the eastern Pacific from Tierra del Fuego north to California. One of their common names, Humboldt squid, is taken from the Humboldt Current, which occurs off the coast of South America and is part of this species' habitat.

It is important to note that jumbo squid populations have been increasingly migrating farther north than their normal range, in some cases as far north as Alaska. This is of concern to scientists who fear that increased ocean temperatures possibly due to global warming are to blame and/or perhaps overfishing of the jumbo squid's predators, which has allowed them to expand their range. Predators include swordfish, sharks, porpoises, blue marlin, Makaira mazara, sperm whales, Physeter catodon, Juan Fernandez fur seals, Arctocephalus philippii and Guadalupe fur seals, Arctocephalus townsendi.

Behavior

This is one of the most aggressive of all the squid out there but humans don’t need to worry. This aggression is toward their prey and nothing else. This is one of the few types of squid that live in groups. These groups are called shoals and there can be up to 1,200 of them in one.

They can move around in the water at a speed of about 15 miles per hour. The social hierarchy in their shoals really haven’t been identified by researchers. They live an active life though that is generally over within a year.

Since they are do deep in the water during the day there isn’t much we really know about their behaviors. At nigh the go to the surface to feed and that has been recorded in great detail by researchers.

Diet /Feeding

This species of squid generally feeds upon krill and various types of small fish. They tend to look for food close to the surface of the water even though they spend most of their time deeper down. They come up at night to feed because that is when they find their prey to be readily available.

When they have limited supplies of food available, they will eat other members of their own shoal. The smaller members of it are the most likely targets. This type of cannibalism within a species is very rare. Some squid will eat other types but not their own species.

Reproduction

The ability to change colors may be a factor for mating. The males may engage in it to get the attention of females. The exact process isn’t readily known. In fact, the eggs have never been seen by researchers. However, it is believed that they deposit their eggs in hidden locations at the floor of the sea as other types of squid do.

Human interaction

While many experts agree that the Humboldt squid is not a threat to humans, others disagree. There have been some reports around the Sea of Cortez of divers and fishermen being attacked. It is believed this is due to an aggressive search for food though and not the urge to kill.

Humans have interacted with them in captivity in an effort to learn more about them. Since they have such a short life span there is a great deal to learn from one in a short span of time.

Library Research Assigment

11/18/2014

ENG101 Composition I

Prof. Alexander

1. Willy Gilly studies squid
   Squidly studies Willy did
   The squid he studied were quite jumbo
   And might taste quite good in a gumbo
   And since they’ve become quite abundant
   He thinks perhaps they should be hunted
2. According to Gilly, who has studied the strikingcephalopods for more than two decades, the first Crittercam fastened to a Humboldt squid’s body didn’t stay secure for very long. “The squid lasted about two or three minutes,” he says. “Then, all of a sudden, there were 20 or 30 other squid just attacking it. So they ripped the camera off and ripped the whole sleeve that held the camera onto the squid and just tore the whole thing off the squid. Luckily, the whole camera assembly was buoyant, and we ended up getting it back
3. It is important to note that jumbo squid populations have been increasingly migrating farther north than their normal range, in some cases as far north as Alaska. This is of concern to scientists who fear that increased ocean temperatures possibly due to global warming are to blame and/or perhaps overfishing of the jumbo squid's predators, which has allowed them to expand their range. Predators include swordfish, sharks, porpoises, blue marlin, Makaira mazara, sperm whales, Physeter catodon, Juan Fernandez fur seals, Arctocephalus philippii and Guadalupe fur seals, Arctocephalus townsendi.

Paragraph:

I'm heading in the direction of the co-relation between the studies and the increased number of encounters with the Humboldt squid "outside their natural habitat" for my theme I have in mind  (Fear) the Humboldt squid" a.k.a "the red Devil" as sea monster.


Stop for a minute and think about the Humboldt squid a.k.a "the Red Devil" imagine that your swimming in the warm waters of the pacific ocean, enjoying your little vacation, you have nothing to worry about and all of the sudden something snatch you by your leg with so much force that the pressure could crush your bone in a split of a second. Inevitable you find yourself at the bottom of the ocean, fainting in shock, looking straight into the pitch black eyes of a Gigantic Red Devil. "The Red devil itself"
There is absolutely nothing you can do, no time to react, there is no escape and sadly no one to save you. for all you know you've just become a mid afternoon snack to one of the most aggressive and voracious under water predators in the world. And right there in that little time that you have left you start wondering why,why is this happening to you? is it coincidence? are you that unlucky? but there is no more time left for you; in a matter of seconds the squid uses its barbed ten tentacles suckers to grab its prey and slices and tears the victim's flesh ( in this case you,opps sorry!!) with its beak and radula.
You are dead and no one will ever find you... 
Scary enough? the fantasy might not be that far from reality. 





According to recent reports, this good fellas have been spotted all the way up to Alaska now and researchers seem to think that the increase of encounters is due to global warming                                                                                                

ENG 101 “The yellow wall paper”

Prof. Alexander

“Personally, I disagree with their ideas.“Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.But what is one to do?I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal – having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition. I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus – but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always make me feel bad.

So I will let it alone and talk about the house”

In this passage from “the yellow wall paper “ by Charlotte Perkins, the readers have the opportunity to see the main character’s opinion about her husband and other relatives. She explains that she disagrees with her husband’s ideas about her treatment, that not being able to work is not helping her in any way.  In this case she is a writer. She asked herself the question “ but what is one to do?” in other words; she is trying to come up with ways to be allow to write but because she has been forbidden to it by her husband who is her primary care doctor she begins to have hallucinations to the point of having some sort of a mental disorder.

However the writer does agreed that writing in secret is not doing her any favors but she seem desperate. This is an important moment in the story because not being able to do what she likes the most is making her feel sad and because of that she starts writing about the house. To relieve her mind! It could be said that most of her problems come from the fact that she is not happy with her marriage and the way things are going on the house. She seems to suffer from the fact that the person that is supposed to care about her belittles both her illness and her thoughts and concerns in general. Plus her husband prescribes a treatment that includes almost doing no work at all. She needs to keep her mind occupied and that is why she begins to write about the “yellow wall paper” which she seems very disturbed by it.

"the yellow wall-paper"

October 21, 2014

THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER

Q: Is this a ghost story?

I believe in my "Humble" opinion, that this is NOT a ghost story but merely a nervous breakdown.     The narrator is experiencing certain symptoms  that may be well related to post dramatic stress and depression. Also it seems but it's not clear that she gave birth recently and moved to a big old       mansion. It is very clear as well that her relationship with her husband is taking a big toll on her. She feels lonely, sad and manipulated by those people around her. By a few things she described; it could be said that she is being abuse by the way they treat her and don't let her do things that she likes to do. For example; keeping her in that room against her will and not letting her work or not being able to see her baby and the relatives. It is clearly a form of abuse.

I also believe that this is not a ghost story but just the story of an unhappy women that is desperately in need of love and affection, that is emotionally distress and no one tries to understand the way she feels. Also the fact that she is very sarcastic doesn't help her case. and let's not forget that she is also taking medicine prescribed by her husband who happens to be a doctor

old man

He was in the audience, sitting with his legs and arms crossed and swinging his head to the music. The eyes focus on the piano. His salt- pepper hair was slightly covered by a green baseball hat. His face showed a few wrinkles and the tone of his bright blue eyes was magnified by the thick lenses he wore. The sunshine was gone and it had rained. Suddenly he leans forward slowly, reaches under his seat, grabs a bag and pulls a grey rain coat that was inside of it; unfolds it and puts it on quickly and goes back to the same position and same movements that he was doing before. After a couple of minutes he yawns and opens his arms to stretch and then goes back to folding his arms. Then he stops moving his head and remains still in the same position. After several minutes his head falls upward and immediately goes up. Almost at the same time he opens his arms and starts clapping in slow motion. Looks around and over his shoulder, grabs his handbag from underneath gets up and leaves.

She had thick, dark and black hair. Almond shaped eyes, pale skin and slim figure. Her eyes were set on a piece of paper that she was holding with her left and. On the other hand holding a plastic fork that she was using to eat a salad that was on top of the table. She had her legs crossed and on top of them had a brown leather bag that she was using to support her elbows. Every now and then she would alternate between eating and reading but mostly her main focus was on the paper.

He was calm and peaceful, sitting still on top of a bench with his legs crossed. His back was straight and his arms were resting on top of his knees and his thumb was connecting the index finger on both hands. His eyes were closed and didn’t even blink to the sound of people walking by. He had short black hair, long sideburns and bushy eyebrows.

The pigeon was soaking wet, it looked like it had a bad hair day but he didn’t care. His damped feathers were all over the place and he swaddle like a penguin pecking around for food. He kept looking for food like there was no tomorrow and didn’t mind being too close to people that were sitting on the chairs next to the tables. After a couple of minutes he got fed by somebody, picks the food and flies away to the end of the world