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An Open Letter To Squid

Dear Squid of the World,Excuse me. What is this? I have been your friend and advocate for years...

With This Devoted Squid Mama, I Bid Farewell

Squid typically die after spawning. Their orphaned eggs are left alone in the cold brine to develop...

ICAD 2012: Top Ten Cephalopod Stories From The Last Year

To celebrate International Cephalopod Awareness Days, I decided to comb through all the cephalopod...

Scavenging Cephalopods: Mild-Mannered Vampire Squid Just Want To Eat Waste

A couple of weeks ago ago, a debate about the existence of scavenging cephalopods broke out on...

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Danna StaafRSS Feed of this column.

Cephalopods have been rocking my world since I was in grade school. I pursued them through a BA in marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, followed by a PhD dissertation at... Read More »

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Squid Who Make Glue

Squid Who Make Glue

Nov 09 2011 | 2 comment(s)

I've mentioned the Littlest Squid before: the genus Idiosepius, which contains only a handful of very small, very adorable species. And I commented that they have this habit of gluing themselves to seaweed, to hide from predators.

Well, today I'm here to explain how they do it, because a new paper just came out on the topic of itty-bitty squids and their glue organs.
If You Enjoy French Perfume, You Are Indebted To A Dead Squid

If You Enjoy French Perfume, You Are Indebted To A Dead Squid

Nov 07 2011 | 6 comment(s)

Ambergris is a weird and wonderful thing. It has been tremendously valuable throughout human history, but its creation and functionality have been shrouded in myth and superstition. To this day, no one has ever seen a whale actually excrete the stuff.

But we know for sure that ambergris comes from sperm whales, because it's been found in their stomachs as well as floating freely in the sea. And since the waxy blobs are always full of squid beaks, we think they're probably the whale's way of dealing with these uncomfortable hard parts. 
Squid Oil Salesmen

Squid Oil Salesmen

Nov 05 2011 | 3 comment(s)

Apparently, in the world of Omega-3 supplementation, squid is the new hotness. A Norwegian company producing "Calamarine" has struck deals to sell to a bunch of US food supplements.

It's a nice example of using every part of the buffalo, since the parts they're processing into oil are usually discarded in the process of turning squid into calamari.
Squids Are More Legit Writers Than I Am

Squids Are More Legit Writers Than I Am

Nov 04 2011 | 1 comment(s)

What are the quintessential tools of the writer's trade? Why, a pen and ink, of course. Now, what modern writer in this day and age uses pen and ink? None. We all use keyboards and screens.
Where's the romance? The tradition? The glory?

It's all held in that unassuming marvel of molluscan engineering, the squid. The squid's pen is his internalized shell, the proteinaceous spear against which his muscles move. The squid's ink is his chemical defense, to be released in a blinding cloud or a deceptive pseudomorph.

Thus the squid is a more romantic, a more traditional, and a more glorious specimen of the writer than is your humble correspondent, who labors ingloriously on her computer.
Would You Prefer A Box Of Squid To Your Current Government?

Would You Prefer A Box Of Squid To Your Current Government?

Nov 02 2011 | 2 comment(s)

The Cayman Islanders sure would!
Most people would prefer to vote for a box of frozen squid at the next election than the current government or the opposition. 50% of voters that had taken part in the on-line straw poll by Monday evening voted for the squid, 46% for the opposition People’s Progressive Movement and only 4% said they would vote for the ruling United Democratic Party.
Just in case that message wasn't clear,
Protect The Colossal Squid!

Protect The Colossal Squid!

Nov 01 2011 | 0 comment(s)

Wait, what? Don't we know, like, almost nothing about colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltonii)? How could we have any idea whether they need protection or not?

On the other hand, the fact that we've seen so few individuals rather suggests that there aren't that many of them to begin with. As with any scarce resource, perhaps caution is the better part of valor . . . or something like that. I might be getting my aphorisms mixed up.