Humboldt squid have gotten so much press off the west coast of the Americas that pretty much any big squid found in these waters is immediately labeled a Humboldt. For example, a Mr. Anderson and his dog Chance recently found a Big Squid Strayed Too Far North on an Alaskan beach:

Sherry Tamone, a professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast, looked at Anderson's pictures and guessed the creature was likely a very large humboldt squid that had accidentally hitched a ride on a dead-end warm current headed north.

Although Humboldts have certainly made their way into Canada and Alaska, close examination often reveals that large squid found in these waters belong to an an entirely different species, one that never made it big in the media: Moroteuthis robusta, the robust clubhook squid. No offense to Professor Tamone, but I'm pretty sure this is the case for Anderson's squid. The giveaway?

"Two of the tentacles were 7 feet long each," he said. "The ends of those have hooks ... like a bobcat, around 40 or 50 of them."

Sounds like the robust clubhook squid to me!