Invasion of the giant blobs

Natural History, June, 2004 by Stephan Reebs

This past February, the beaches of southern Chile looked like the aftermath of some interplanetary conflict, as hundreds of large, bizarre-looking bodies washed ashore. The only thing extraterrestrial about them, though, was that the European Space Agency satellite Envisat provided the explanation for their presence.

The bodies were jumbo flying squid--Dosidicus gigas--creatures whose length may reach thirteen feet. Deep-sea dwellers, they make their living by hunting for fish at the interface between cold and warm waters.

Prevailing westerly winds usually blow the warm surface waters of the austral summer out to sea, making room for deep, cold water to well up along the coast. This year, however, the cold upwelling ceased in late February, and a renegade pocket of cold water got trapped within masses of warmer water, according to Cristina Rodriguez-Benito, an oceanographer at the company Mariscope Chilena in Puerto Montt, Chile. Attracted to the interface between warm and cold, the squid must have come closer to shore than they usually do, possibly following the nutrient-rich waters where they habitually find their food. (www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMVNJYV1SD_index_0.html)