May 12th, 2017: Giant Squid is Giant

This picture of a three day dead specimen, which washed up on Seran Island, Maluku, Indonesia, shows why they named it Giant Squid.
Wiki says;

It won't last long in water that warm! And the smell...

What we SHOULD be eating is the Humboldt squid. They weigh about 100 pounds as adults, are voracious and cannibalistic, and for reasons not yet understood the population in the Sea of Cortez (between Baja and Mexico) has exploded and begun moving up the west coast of Baja.

Seriously, we need to eat these things. Researchers caught one and glued a tiny camera to her to see what they could learn about Humboldts.

They learned Humboldts don't like cameras. As soon as the captured squid was returned to the water, the scientists had a live-feed view as the other squid checked her out and then straight tore her to pieces.

Just wait until these things hit the southern California coastline, which is where they're headed. This could turn into the modern equivalent of the giant eagle that used to live in New Zealand, until the colonists who became Maori killed them all in self-defense. Said eagles were the main predator of the giant flightless birds that were also hunted to extinction, but in their case for food. The eagles were capable of carrying off a small child, but would just as soon kill and adult and eat what they could.

If massive schools (in the thousands at least) of hundred-pound venomous (and remember, it's a paralytic, NOT an anesthetic) squid start invading warm coastal waters, we're gonna have to eat them in self-defense! Pretty soon, Humboldt squid from the western coast of Baja and California could be as ecologically friendly an entree as Atlantic lionfish (which are the invasives that are devastating reef life with a population moving south from Florida and another moving north from Brazil).

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I've been dreaming of
And I'd like to swim beside you
Getting dizzy in your wake
Getting close enough to touch you
Getting brave enough to take you into my arms
And bring you down to be with me

But I can't do that thing anymore
I can't be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything

My body's strong, my will is weak
I got pretty nice arms, but I hate my beak
And the dolphins are all phonies
They seem nice enough at first
But they pretend to be your friend
Until they see you at your worst and then they leave you
Without a word they swim away

So I can't do that thing anymore
I can't be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything

And everything I want I take
And everything I love I break
Every night I lie awake

Did the stars come out? Did the world spin round?
Does it matter that much when you're ten miles down?
In the light that filters down
Into my giant yellow eye
I can see the sails unfolding
Stretching white against the sky and I forgive them
I forgive and I let go

'Cause I can't do that thing anymore
I can't be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

That's enormous!

The Smithsonian has a gian squid in formaldehyde in the Museum of Natural History. I was all excited to see it when it was added, but it is very boring. The body is about the same size as me, IIRC, and the tentacles are really long.

But this, THIS, is a giant squid.

They sure don't fare well on land.

Anybody know why I can't open the videos? They are just black boxes that I have to open by copying the info on the properties function.
I think I may have some kind of encryption blocking going on.

Don't know, this thread or all videos in the Cellar?

At least the ones in the last three IOTD's. (This one, salt and pallet)
Same problem on both the "front page" and comment page: just dead except for right clicking on properties.

Hmm, have to query smarter people than I to figure this one out.
What platform are you accessing the Cellar with?

Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7.
Is the direct link I am having trouble with a new way of presenting them?
I don't remember having problems since I changed to a faster internet connection.

According to Snopes this was determined to be a whale carcass.

that makes more sense

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diaphone Jim Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7. Is the direct link I am having trouble with a new way of presenting them? I don't remember having problems since I changed to a faster internet connection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanalia According to Snopes this was determined to be a whale carcass.

The vids work on my Chrome page, too.
I am guessing you are right about Google.
I had to get Chrome to post on some of their "blogs," but avoid using it because it came with a Norton add-on that is PITA.
You have to laugh and forget about the mass of info you leave behind every minute of connectedness. I search for a topic on Google, e.g., and get related ads for Amazon and other places related to it.
Sometimes Google will tell me I already looked a result, 8 YEARS AGO.

One would think the baleen would hang around for a while if the beastie was a whale. Looks more like one to me.

There are ways to turn off that kind of tracking, D-Jim. And to clean up what's been accumulating up to now, and block it from sticking going forward. Chrome is a good product and I doubt the Norton add-on is permanently attached to it.

I could help you do so if you wish.

Yeah, I don't think I have that. I Googled(ironic) about chrome when I first installed it and found a lot of tips on cleaning up shit I didn't like. I kept using IE mostly but discovered here in the Cellar, a thread with a lot of videos like the video thread(duh), loads 10 times faster in Chrome. This may be Google's doing also, but it happens.

Also in Chrome check out the analytics opt-out.

Thanks for the offer, BV.
At my age, I am about through worrying about getting caught, maybe even doing anything to get caught at.
When Norton gets too annoying, I'll make an effort to give it the boot. This is the third computer that that outfit has screwed up for me.

Those squid pics all look Photoshopped to me. The squid just doesn't jibe.

And why in God's name would you get in the water with that gotta-be-putrid-and-the-water-would-be-too thing?!

When did they change the spelling for "Kraken" to "Giant Squid"?

No Kraken is the Colossal Squid, or larger, with a bad attitude.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce No Kraken is the Colossal Squid, or larger, with a bad attitude.

It's a baleen whale carcass not some giant squid

What makes you so sure Auto? That is speculation, and may prove to be true. They are finally doing tests on samples. I pity the poor bastard that had to retrieve those samples.

They shouldn't need samples for that level; just check for bones. The samples will determine which species.

The Atlas Obscura video showed some features that looked very whale-like; the corrugated throat, and what appeared to be some spilled intestines. The screenshot on the second Snopes video (though not the video itself, I dont' think) showed something very spine-like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce What makes you so sure Auto? That is speculation, and may prove to be true. They are finally doing tests on samples. I pity the poor bastard that had to retrieve those samples.

Now if they only had some dynamite...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff Now if they only had some dynamite...

I wonder if there's a smashed bowl of petunias somewhere nearby.

Wow, I had to Google that one, pretty obscure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey I wonder if there's a smashed bowl of petunias somewhere nearby.

I believe Youtub went to HTML5 recently as did several other places like Amazon. It uses an entirely different form of Digital Rights crap that breaks all sorts of web browsers. I suspect this is what you're running into Diaphone Jim.

Do try Chrome and import all your bookmarks etc. It's not a hard change.

I think he has Chrome already, just prefered to stay with IE. I did to until the delays became intolerable. Something interesting I noticed, for years I've used Ccleaner to dump cookies and get rid of crap, every hour or two online. Using Chrome with the anti tracking and Google analytics blocked, I consistently have 75% less cookies & crap to clear. I still use IE for certain things like talking to my Doctor's portal, so I keep both.