Ecology & Zoology

Neurotoxins In Stranded Squid (With Bonus Rant About Academic Publishing)

It seems that certain great ideas have Times. Like, whoever's alive at that time, it doesn't matter--they're going to discover electricity, because the idea's in the ether. Or whatever. So as it turns out, 2009 was the Time of finding n ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 22 2012 - 12:24pm

Can Squid Fishing Be Less Deadly (For Non-Squid)?

Most of the time, fishermen fish for one particular creature--be it tuna, sardines, or shrimp. Unfortunately, species tend to exist in a commingled muddle called ecology, and it's often difficult to separate them with fishing gear. On the east coast ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Jan 31 2012 - 11:08am

What Exactly Is A Fishery Anyway?

I spend quite a lot of time here at Squid A Day blathering about one fishery or another, and I ought to remember that the word "fishery" isn't exactly common parlance. It's not jargon in the same way as "chromatophore" or, Lor ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 1 2012 - 4:22pm

First Quota Set For Humboldt Squid

Peru is at the cutting edge, the forefront--nay, Peru is a veritable trendsetter, trailblazer, and spearheader--because Peru, alone in the world, has decided to set a quota for Humboldt squid. Before you go off in a huff about how ridiculous I'm bein ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 3 2012 - 7:27pm

Wild Salmon Numbers Are Dropping, But Science Can Fix It

While anti-science politicians in Washington, D.C. block science solutions to harvesting more fish, a crucial piece of information about salmon isn't being considered; the numbers without a science solution only look good because of the massive influ ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 9 2012 - 6:01am

Squid In The Bahamas

The Freeport News--"Grand Bahama's First Newspaper"--ran an article today that was a mix of highly detailed biology and complete bone-headed confusion. Could there be a healthy squid population living in local waters? has a fantastic opening ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 10 2012 - 9:29pm

But Do They Leave A Good-Looking Corpse?

Gary Griggs, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences and Long Marine Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz, wrote a nic e piece for the Santa Cruz Sentinel on the history and current status of California's commercial fisheries. Squid, of course, play a sta ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 12 2012 - 9:33pm

Do Squid Go "Bloop"?

Probably not. No one's ever heard a squid make any kind of noise, really, other than "splash" at the sea surface. But if you read io9's fantastic piece on the deep sea's mysterious sounds, you'll learn about The Bloop, an unex ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 13 2012 - 7:19pm

New Blog (But I Still Love Squid)

I'm stoked to be joining the blogging team at KQED QUEST--a Northern California science multimedia extravaganza! My first post went up yesterday. As you can see, it required extremely rigorous and extensive consumption of chocolate. ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 15 2012 - 6:10pm

Adorable Baby Squid Videos