Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Office:

While we were away at the 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Quebec, there was a mass stranding of Humbolt squid in Hardy Bay (Port Hardy, to the north of Telegraph Cove).  This species of squid travels in large schools, is carnivorous and can be up to 2m and 45 kg.  They are the only squid know to have teeth-like structures on the suckers. (see image)

Humbolt's are more typically found in cold, deep waters in the Eastern Pacific.  In fact, they are named after the Humbolt Current.  Although they have been seen in our area before (there have been sightings since 2003), never have they been in such huge numbers.  There were news reports that Humbolts were stranding off teh north-eastern coast of Vancouver in early August.  We know that these strandings continued into late September, thanks to our dear friends Pat and Bill Haley who shared pictures of the squid on the beach in Tofino (near Schooner Bay).

In early October, Humbolt squid reports started coming in from Northern Vancouver Island pilots (thank you Gord Jenkins) that the animals were being seen near Rivers Inlet, to the north of Port Hardy.  The ultimate mass stranding in Hardy Bay began on October 17, 2009.  Why all these huge squid?

It is speculated that the population of Humbolt squid is increasing due to the overfishing of large predatory fish such as tuna, marlin and swordfish.  It appears that the range of this larger population is expanding which is likely related to climate variations and food supply e.g. hake, pilchard and herring. 

Why do they strand?  No one yet has definitively been able to answer this.  The big storm just prior to October 17th may have carried them into Hardy Bay where their death may have been related to the temperature of the water or that the water in the Bay had a higher concentration of fresh water.

Our head naturalist took the pictures of the decaying squid.l  She may have missed the stranding event itself as she was in Quebec, but was not going to miss the opportunity to collect some of the Humbolt squid's beaks for educational purposes (such as for use in the Whale Interpretive Center).  She reports that the smell of the decaying squid is almost as bad as the dead sealion she recently helped Captain Jim retrieve from the ocean bottom.  All in the name of environmental education........