Tentarcticles (Mesonychoteuthis / Colossal Squid)

[myopsida]

patagonian toothfish eating albatross legs is a common event during the austral winter - as the sea-ice freezes, the albatross, who have been enjoying a long mild autumn are dozing on the surface - the sudden freeze traps thier legs which subsequently snap off. The legless birds then spend the rest of thier lives soaring behind factory trawlers where they can skim offal from the surface without having to paddle after fleeing prey.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Is this true or are you pulling my leg?

 

[Phil]

patagonian toothfish eating albatross legs is a common event during the austral winter

And I thought DaDa was dead! Nature is truly wonderful.

Please let this be true...........

 

[Fujisawas Sake]

John, wifey is away for 3 weeks in the states... I'm torn between the two right now (rest seems wasteful). Problem is that I've reached a point where there are too many things on, too many competing demands on my time, and I've ground to a halt.

Took last evening (fell asleep in the office) and today off; perhaps some rest is in order.

Dude, you need to unplug. If you need some rest, take it. Trust me, you can burn out even on things you love. I hear the surf in Nuzi is choice. Where I come from, I have a problem with that darm hypothermia thing. Or do something else for awhile. Heck, I'm envious about your rank in the marine biology community and all, but I know its work... Hard work that takes up body and mind. Go out. Have fun. We can wait for information. I mean, let's be honest, a lot of scientists I've known wouldn't even bother to post information or even answer our posts. We really appreciate you. And we don't want to see you meltdown.

Let's face it; that's not your destiny... You still have a long role to play in the annals of marine biology.

So have fun. And say hi to "wifey" for me. Tomorrow is my first Father's Day as a father, so I'm pretty stoked. I forgot if you have any kids, but have a happy Father's Day anyway.

Oh, and the Discovery Channel will be showing a new series "Walking With Cavemen" starting tomorrow. Looks cool.

Sushi and Sake,

John

 

[WhiteKiboko]

I hear the surf in Nuzi is choice.

i misread this initially and all i could think of was an ed wood caliber horrible movie...

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0094077

back to the subject (kinda) unplugging is definitely sage advice....

+ (or or ) =

 

[Fujisawas Sake]

"Surf Nazis"??

Actually, one of my favorite films is "Six-String Samurai"... It may not be the BEST movie ever made, but its a +10 on the COOLNESS scale. Its got three things I like: Samurai swords, rock n' roll, and a lot of action. Don't get me wrong, I love "artsy" films and such, but to everything there is a season (turn, turn, turn... sorry, couldn't resist), and there is time for Hong Kong-style, Ang Li, Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburn, Chow Yun Fat, butt-kicking coolness that you just don't get in everyday life.

Sushi and Sake (that I stole from Japanese Yakuza in a hail of gunfire and special effects that would make the Wachowski Brothers cringe)

John

P.S. Hey Steve, maybe you can get giant squid footage in bullet-time!!

There is no squid....

 

[WhiteKiboko]

i just realized this now (boy am i quick) articles is mispelled...or was that intentional to tie in with the polar nature of the find?

hippos are slow

 

[myopsida]

Steve - would I lie to You??!! As a biologist in godzone you MUST have heard the stories of albatross stuck in pack ice.....one of the difficulties studying these events is that if a flock gets stuck, quite often they fly away with the entire packice. This causes a ecosystem collapse as the microalgae using the ice as a medium to grow during the austral winter no longer have a substrate to grow on - no primary productivity, food chain failure and the squid crop fails - leading to massive death rates among the Auckland Island sealion populations and then the government closes the fishery - economic ruin for NZ aarrggghhh......

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Steve - would I lie to You??!!

No, but you are certainly capable of pulling my chain. Next you'll be telling me that the intensified frequency of albatross farting during all of this strenuous pack ice redistribution (in the birds northerly migration, feeding and foraging behaviour) is having a greater effect on global warming than the thinning ozone layer.

I think we should explore this some more.

 

[Specks]

Hook, line, and sinker

One reason why patagonian toothfish might be found with albatross' bones is because of use longlining fishing use to catch Tuna and Patagoian toothfish. Longlining is when fishing vessels tow huge heavy baited lines. The albatrosses try and eat the bait and get caught on the hook, and dragged down and drown. A dead albatross on a hook would look tasty to a fish. Or one that has fallen off the hook and sinks to the bottom where the patagonian fish lives as well as midwaters.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

That's a good point Specks, but only the legs were included in the stomach sample. You would think, if the entire bird was taken down on the end of a hook, that the entire bird would be recovered from the stomach contents.

Maybe this does happen; I'm afraid we have seen very few Patagonian toothfish stomach contents; it was just a comment we made based on a quick observation.
Cheers
O

 

[Steve O'Shea]

OMG

This just through (though I don't know who is responsible)

http://www.cafeshops.com/squidzilla

 

[Clem]

Steve,

Wow.

The Freudian implications of the anti-squid thong are pretty grim.

Put the credit card down, Steve. Just walk away.



Clem

 

[Steve O'Shea]

It was tempting, I must admit
But me in that thong?

I'd have a fit

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Although we haven't posted anything about Mesonychoteuthis for quite a while, it doesn't mean nothing is happening. Here are a couple of pictures of a Meso maquette (Mk II).

Just imagine a life-sized colossal squid swimming next to a diver, being chased by a robotic whale .... In the pic is the chappy (Barry Down) who is making the model (a few more refinements required). The company playing around with rubber squid is 'Glasshammer Visual Effects'. This is going to be , so watch this space.