Footage of a flying cephalopod (?) while kitesurfing in the Caribbean.

thom

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I found this footage on youtube, it is not mine, but I found it interesting. It was taken by a kitesurfer in the waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands, and seems to show a small animal breaking the surface, leaving what looks like a trail of ink in its wake. Perhaps it was spooked by the surf board barreling past? I've never seen this sort of thing before, have any of you?

 
:shock: Very cool! I was skeptical but zoomed in a bit... Seems legit! starts as ink then continues as water...

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Nice screen grab! I did some nosing around, and my guess is that it's a caribbean reef squid. Here's an article on this behavior. I actually saw a bunch of these when diving in Curacao fifteen years ago, but never imagined that this was part of their repertoire.
 
Huh, interesting. It looks a lot squatter and more bulbous than most of the squids that are known to fly (onychoteuthids and ommastrephids). Good distance achieved before hitting the water again!
 
Huh, interesting. It looks a lot squatter and more bulbous than most of the squids that are known to fly (onychoteuthids and ommastrephids). Good distance achieved before hitting the water again!

Maybe it's the camera angle that's making him look all short and stubby, but he sure did fly :smile:
 
Here are the YouTube comments,
Published on Feb 25, 2015
Scared the bjesus out of what I believe is a squid while kitesurfing in turks and caicos. You can see the ink (slow motion) being released before jumping out of the water and I think it's fait to say the feeling was mutual :smile:
 

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