Man eater squids threat to ecosystem in Pacific
Posted on 29. Aug, 2010 by Latha B. Reddy in General
The giant squids that harbored the Pacific Ocean as their home have become a big threat to the marine ecosystem of the Pacific as they continue to feed on the fish stock besides attacking swimmers
Monster squids were thought to be part of adventure stories; but they are an existing reality for the fishermen as well as marine ecologists along the 26,000 km of coast that connects Chile and Alaska.
The Diablos rojos aka the giant squids or red devils have recently devoured on two Mexican fishermen that even their families could not even recognize their bodies.
Researchers say that for some years now the Humboldt giant squids have been devouring the fish stock by going off Mexico to deeper zones. The squids go out hunting in groups of few thousands and can even out swim the fish reaching a speed of 15 mph swimming with their 8 tentacles.
Researchers believe they use release of pigments as modes of communication and then coordinate attack on fish. A female squid lays about 30 million eggs; with each egg developing into a killer squid that’d feed on millions of fish.
The researchers and the marine biologists that study about the killer squids protect themselves. Each of these squids measure about 8 feet long and weigh 100 lbs besides possessing several thousands of teeth along attacking tentacles and eat any prey that comes along their path and each Humboldt squid can eat about 27,000 lbs of fish in 2 years’ time and its just too much to have a huge impact on the marine environment and ecosystem.
