Diving with jumbo squid in CA rare?

[detroit diver]

That one clip where the thing clamps onto the camera, and is sort of chomping away with the beak... No thank you.

Thanks for the link.

K

Which one was that?

 

[hantzu701]

Which one was that?

BC03_028 (49 sec)

That shot will sell a lot of "rambo" dive knives...
Takes night diving with the squid run into a new perspective...

 

[Benthos]

All the squid in those movies where fairly small. Still trying to figure out how to upload the pics but I'm getting the error message? Does it need a sertain format?
Rich

 

[Benthos]

THE PICS ARE UP! There in the cephalopod gallery.

 

[detroit diver]

BC03_028 (49 sec)

That shot will sell a lot of "rambo" dive knives...
Takes night diving with the squid run into a new perspective...

Thank you, I think...!!

 

[freediver ken]

I was on the live aboard the Solmar V at night anchored after a day of diving. We were standing around talking and watching the hundred of fish swimming around the ship. They really illuminate the ship at night and the surrounding waters for about 60 feet circumference. As if by magic, suddenly the entire surface of the water was a solid carpet of squid as the lights shone. They snatched evey single fish around the ship in a matter of seconds. I would say most were in the 4 foot range. I didn't see any really huge ones. We threw some hotdogs in the water which were also snatch up. They only stayed around about 10 minutes I guess because they ate everything. Ken

 

[hantzu701]

I know that the general concensus are that these creatures are probably dangerous and should be avoided; however, I'm sure that they have the same draw as any of the large sea creatures as sharks, groupers, etc.

Are these creatures really dangerous? Is the danger based on fear as it is with sharks or have these squid been known to be aggressive and attack divers?

In the dive footage, the squid seem to attack the camera, a diver, and other squid. A friend who looked at the footage said it looked like the attack of a squid on another was manufactured and that the diver was holding on to the squid while the squid was attempting to flee.

 

[Scubaroo]

Did you read the referenced link?

I personally know a guy who acted as a safety diver with an oceanographer and videographer studying these things - they wouln't dive unless there was a safety diver for each person in the water, whose sole task was be ready to intervene in the event of an incident. I'm pretty sure that the oceanographer who was studying Humboldt squid would be in the best position to know if they posed a danger or not, and they would *not* get into the water near them without backup.

 

[archman]

Yeah, big squid suck. They rip all your gear off, sometimes with hunks of your skin. What doesn't get pulled off is liable to be damaged from either the suckers or the beak itself. They can remove patches of your wetsuit merely by "tasting" you.

I don't know of any other marine life that are so inherently dangerous to divers... not through biting attacks and fatalities mind you but from compromising your gear and creating unsafe situations. Those safety divers scubaroo is referring to are there to fend off attacks from blind spots and "save" the diver from equipment failure.

Still makes for entertaining video. I'll let someone else do the dive, however.

 

[Cudabait]

Most interesting stuff!! Good pathway to article.

Regards,