Humboldt Squids

Author's note: This post is about the possibility of an invasive species. I am focusing on sentence structure in this piece.

While vast majorities of large species in the Pacific Ocean are slowly dying out, a sizable creature of the deep is uprising. They range to six feet long and to one hundred pounds. Often eating their peers, they will devour almost anything they set their mind on. These ferocious cephalopods are creating a high profile for themselves across the Pacific. The Humboldt Squid has the best ability to overpopulate the oceans.   

Humboldts live 660 to 2,300 feet below sea level. They range from dark purple to blinding white. Every spring they migrate north to as far as Alaska. On the trip schools of up to 1,200 squids travel up to fifteen miles per hour. To evade predators they will jump out of the water and soar in the air. The Humboldt’s barbed suckers (below) pierce the flesh of its prey and then its tentacles drag it to its baseball sized beak, an inescapable trap.

Main predators of the Humboldt squid are being over fished off the coast of California and Mexico, making migration less of a hassle and letting the squids rapidly multiply. As the squid attack whatever they see, less and less native fish are found angering the fishermen of the area. “El rojo diablo” a common nickname for the Humboldt Squid meaning “the red devil” suits its behavior.  Humboldt squid used to live from San Diego to Peru.  Now sightings in Chile and  Alaska are common.

Many things are unknown about the Humboldt. Questions about spawning and prey are still left hanging due to the extreme depths the squid go to. Numbers of the Humboldt are unknown because of how deep they live as well. As of today they aren’t too many Humboldts inhabiting the Pacific Ocean, but tomorrow they may be across the globe. The deadliest threat to overpopulate the oceans is the Humboldt Squid.