squidhavefeelings2 said:
I felt sad when I read the story.
They should not have killed the squid by gaffing at it and dragging it on board, indiscriminately killing the animal. Now that its dead, cut it open and study it. Fine I have no problem with that. I just wish it wasn't dead.
Also, why must we keep demonizing the poor animal by calling it a "monster". Its just an animal, no more of a monster than a shark or you and I.
I would like to know, if this squid was still alive, would it be possible to still somehow study it in its natural environment ? Is it possible to do what they did with Keiko the killer whale, tracking its movement, etc.
Thanks.
Hiya SHF2 --
I can understand your concern regarding this, and perhaps it would be better for one of our resident teuthologists, like Steve-O', Kat, Richard Ellis, or James Wood to field these questions. (Yo, guys, where are you now that we need you?) But I will offer my
as a laysquid anyway.
Unfortunately, the first reaction of humans to Big Squids for the past few millennia has been fear. There are so many cases of Archis in their death throes at the surface, being harpooned and otherwise tormented by people in boats, and then when the poor creature tried to defend itself by lashing out with its arms, being slaughtered as a "dangerous monster." To paraphrase a line from THE ELEPHANT MAN, who are the
real "monsters" in those scenarios?
So if the animal in question was an Archi, the fishermen would have been totally unjustified in their actions. Letting it go, and reporting the incident to the local marine research lab, would have been a saner and more humane reaction.
That being said, we are not talking about an Archi here. From what I have read about recent studies, Messie is an aggressive, powerful creature with sharp hooks on its arms, which it has no compunctions about using if threatened -- or hungry. I don't know the exact circumstances of its capture, but if I saw something huge in my net flailing an array of big scimitars in my direction, my first reaction would have been to kill it too, before I or my companions ended up on the business end of those weapons. It isn't as though the fishermen were out to net a humongous ceph, they were apparently just catching fish for a livelihood and found themselves face-to-face with a very vicious and scary-looking surprise (more so than an Archi would have been).
Had it been a research vessel on the lookout for a Colossal Squid, the crew would have (hopefully) been prepared for the danger of being skewered alive, and would have worked out a way of capturing a CS with a minimum amount of danger to either the Squid or themselves.
Regarding Keiko the Killer Whale -- we're talking "apples and oranges" here. Orcas ("urban legends" to the contrary notwithstanding) have never once been known to attack humans, except in clear cases of self-defense. In fact, like many other cetaceans, Orcas seem to sense when a biped approaching them has benevolent intentions, and they respond in a similarly benevolent manner. The same remarkable intelligence (perhaps close to that of primates!) that makes them Angels of Death to pinnipeds and great whales, enables them to relate empathetically to our own species.
Similarly, Archis -- though not exactly the Brightest Crayons in the Pack (if I'm not mistaken, Steve-O' says their brains weigh about 3 grams) -- are apparently placid animals, and perhaps it would be within the realm of possibility to tag them without risk to their delicate physiology. Messies are another story entirely. According to Steve-O', they are likely to slash or bite first, and ask questions later. IMHO it wouldn't be easy to get close enough to a Messie to tag it, and I doubt that its molluscan body chemistry would survive "darting" with anesthetics as one would do with a land mammal like a big cat or primate (Steve-O' or Kat, please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this stuff.)
I am moved by your compassion for living things, regardless of how alien their appearance. It's just that I don't think the fishermen would have been able to keep a pissed-off Mesonychoteuthis alive either on or next to their boat, without incurring serious injury to the creature and/or themselves.
I trust that the TONMO teuthologist contingent can pick up the subject from here!
Blessings -- and stay as kindhearted as you are!
Your bioluminescent benthic buddy,
The Tanster
