Friday, May 15, 2009

Giant Squid


Speaking of scary, here is an image I did for a Weekly Reader science magazine of a giant squid a couple years ago. One of the articles I read while researching said that the calamari rings would be the size of truck tires but would not taste good. I wonder how the scientist knew?

I suspect that regardless how they would taste, they would be really tough no matter how they were cooked...

7 comments:

  1. ...and you'd need a really BIG pan.

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  2. Christina,
    Nice looking squid. It is hard for me to believe that they get that big - the only ones I have seen are about seven inches long. I have a good recipe for squid. And I have been wanting to try squid ink pasta - it is jet black.
    I wonder if we humans would taste good to a giant squid?
    They are one of my favorite animals to draw- being so strange.

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  3. I've seen pics of some that were caught up in lines or nets...they basically fall apart in lower pressures above deep water - pretty spooky anyway. I've seen some footage of them in very deep water - I think the narrative said they're pretty aggressive.

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  4. I'm pretty sure we 'd taste rubbery to a squid.

    Ever notice how some animals become perennial adversaries, and wonder how that came to be? I guess Charles Knight did the first painting that pitted a t-rex against the triceratops and it caught on. But who decreed that giant squid would always have it in for the sperm whale? They could attack loggerhead turtles couldn't they? Does a mongoose ever fight anything besides cobras? If a Tapir wades into the amazon do all the piranhas hold a meeting and decide, "no, we hold out for the cow. He's coming."

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  5. That is a good obsevation Chuck. I have never gotten to paint a squid fighting a sperm whale-educational publications seem to frown on that for some reason. I think kids would love it though.

    There is a type of squid that is known to attack divers. The Humboldt squid are about 7 feet long and very aggressive hunters. Nat Geo has had some cool documentaries about them:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Squid

    No word if they like divers sliced and deep fried with tomato sauce though.

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  6. two thoughts:

    1. Research is the best part of any job.

    2. The Newport Aquarium needs a Humboldt squid. :-D

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  7. ...just not in the petting tank; first it would start with sepia tagging, then selling illegal brine shrimp at the far end of the tank and ripping off the horseshoe crabs' lunch money. Saw an episode about this on Bravo.

    I need some sleep.

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