Ecology & Zoology

Everyone Loves Giant Squid

Today I am going to send you over to Deep-Sea News for your squid fix. Because Dr. M has just made the compelling case that Giant Squid Are Awesomesauce. There's really not room for debate. (There might be room for a couple of grammatical edits.) It i ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Jan 31 2011 - 7:05pm

Summer Squid Season In The Southern Hemisphere

FIS (Fish Information and Services, the "most comprehensive website for the commercial fishing industry") has a run of recent squid news. Let's start with Illex argentinus, the Argentinian shortfin squid with a history of contention between ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 2 2011 - 12:44pm

The Headline We've All Been Waiting For

Giant Squid Kill Fishermen, courtesy of Weekly World News, "The World's Only Reliable News." Marine biologists rushed to the scene hoping to catch at least one of the squid. Dr. Luis Santiago of the Universidad Autónoma Baja California Sur ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 5 2011 - 9:51pm

How Snakes Lost Their Legs May Have New Answers

X-ray imaging technology is helping scientists better understand how snakes lost their legs during evolution and perhaps help help resolve the debate about whether they evolved from a terrestrial lizard or from one that lived in the oceans. New 3-D images ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 7 2011 - 4:12pm

But Could The Squid Hear Themselves On TV?

Well, it's been six months and the news cycle has come around again to the same squiddy topics: a new TV show about giant squid, and the question of whether squid can hear. The giant squid documentary, which was supposed to come out in 2010, is a wee ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 9 2011 - 11:54am

Squid Egg Chemical Related To Human Semen?

Covered in the popular media with the engaging headline Scientists discover how to make squid go completely berserk is a recent study about squid pheromones. Squid species of a particular family, Loliginidae, are famous for their spawning aggregations. The ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 11 2011 - 11:23pm

Downside To Valentine's Day Flowers- UK Demand Is 'Bleeding' Kenya Dry

A University of Leicester ecologist has warned that Kenya is being “bled dry” by the UK’s demand for fresh flowers, a timely concern given Valentine's Day.   Dr. David Harper, of the Department of Biology has been working at Lake Naivasha in Kenya as ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 14 2011 - 2:04pm

The Squid Hunter Of The Smithsonian

The Smithsonian has posted cool videos of Clyde Roper talking about his passion for the giant squid, Architeuthis. Two of the videos are short excerpts of an interview with Roper, and one is a ten-minute documentary with some very neat footage from Roper&# ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Feb 15 2011 - 6:36pm

The Latest From Down South

I've been tracking the Illex argentinus fishery for a while now--remember 2009 was the worst year ever, and while 2010 was better it was still far from a complete recovery. How's 2011 shaping up? In Argentina: ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 18 2011 - 1:17pm

A Revolutionary New Squid Jig!

That was a joke. I don't think it's actually revolutionary. But Shimano sure does! " Shimano says its Egi System will not only catch you more squid but will make your squid fishing even more enjoyabl e." Here is their Egi squid-catching ...

Blog Post - Danna Staaf - Feb 23 2011 - 9:31pm