Science
Related: About this forumSquid can fly to save energy
Jessica Marshall
20 February 2012
Squid can save energy by flying rather than swimming, according to calculations based on high-speed photography.
Squid of many species have been seen to 'fly' using the same jet-propulsion mechanisms that they use to swim: squirting water out of their mantles so that they rocket out of the sea and glide through the air. Until now, most researchers have thought that such flight was a way to avoid predators1, but Ronald ODor, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, has calculated that propelling themselves through the air may actually be an efficient way for squid to travel long distances.
The creatures are rarely seen flying, so some researchers argue that the mode of travel is not widespread in migration, but over years of study ODor has gathered hints that the behaviour is more common than was thought. Since the 1970s, he has been keeping Northern shortfin squid, Illex illecebrosus, in a 15-metre indoor pool. At first, his research team would often find dead squid around the pool in the morning, the creatures having jumped out of the water over night. It was clear that if two or three died every night we were going to run out of animals fairly quickly, says ODor. The team ultimately lowered the water level to keep the squid in.
Further evidence came from Julia Stewart, a marine biologist at Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University in Pacific Grove, California, who uses tagging to track Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas). Her recent work found that they travelled faster than anyone had seen before. The question this raised in my mind was, Maybe they really are flying? says ODor.
http://www.nature.com/news/squid-can-fly-to-save-energy-1.10060
msongs
(67,420 posts)TlalocW
(15,384 posts)Who did not see an ocean until he was 30 to stay landlocked. With my luck, I would be on a boat in the path of one of these guys and get killed by a flying squid.
TlalocW
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)We can't let Iran get CEPHALOPODS!
Stay tuned for the special report on FOX Noise.
Now, on a SEROUS matter, that at least explains the weird fin thingies they have. They don't seem to have much use in the water since they are mostly torpedoes and tuck in the fins when shooting forward. I'd never heard that they fly before but it really fits. I bet they do it for fun. I would!
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)Maybe someone left a TV on they have been forced to watch the Republican debates?