Fact or Fiction: Can a squid fly out of the water?
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WHEN SQUID FLY: New photographic evidence depicts a group of flying squid off the coast of Brazil. Notice the jets of water propelling the squid through the air. Image: Bob and Deb Hulse
To escape predators in the ocean, these cephalopods will speed away by shooting a jet of water. But can squid use that behavior to take to the air and control their trajectories?
Squid surveillance
On a LISTSERV dedicated to mollusks, Maciá and Robinson (University of Miami), called out for any other researchers who had witnessed airborne squid—a phenomenon the husband and wife had not personally observed before. Maciá and Robinson received numerous replies from scientists with whom they eventually co-wrote a study in 2004 in the Journal of Molluscan Studies. The paper collects sightings of at least six distinct squid species squirting themselves out of the ocean and over the waves, sometimes solo, sometimes in packs—sometimes with enough force to match the speed of boats or wind up on decks. But the paper includes no photographs or video clips; its evidence is largely anecdotal. The fact is that documented instances of flying squid are incredibly rare. Most people are unprepared for such a sight.
Recently, however, on a cruise ship off the coast of Brazil, retired geologist and amateur photographer Bob Hulse captured what may be the best-ever photographic evidence of flying squid. Hulse sent the pictures to University of Hawaii oceanographer Richard Young, who passed them along to Ron O'Dor, senior scientist for the Census of Marine Life. O'Dor thinks he can analyze the photos to gain a better understanding of squid aerodynamics, which few people have been able to properly study due to lack of adequate documentation.
"Hulse was shooting with burst mode on his camera, so I know exactly what the interval is between the frames and I can calculate velocity of squid flying though the air," O'Dor says. "We now think there are dozens of species that do it. Squid are used to gliding in the water, so the same physiology probably allows them to maneuver and glide in the air. When you look at some of the pictures, it seems they are more or less using their fins as wings, and they are curling their arms in [a] shape that could easily be some kind of lifting surface."
More details here...
Source:
Scientific American
WHEN SQUID FLY: New photographic evidence depicts a group of flying squid off the coast of Brazil. Notice the jets of water propelling the squid through the air. Image: Bob and Deb Hulse
To escape predators in the ocean, these cephalopods will speed away by shooting a jet of water. But can squid use that behavior to take to the air and control their trajectories?
Squid surveillance
On a LISTSERV dedicated to mollusks, Maciá and Robinson (University of Miami), called out for any other researchers who had witnessed airborne squid—a phenomenon the husband and wife had not personally observed before. Maciá and Robinson received numerous replies from scientists with whom they eventually co-wrote a study in 2004 in the Journal of Molluscan Studies. The paper collects sightings of at least six distinct squid species squirting themselves out of the ocean and over the waves, sometimes solo, sometimes in packs—sometimes with enough force to match the speed of boats or wind up on decks. But the paper includes no photographs or video clips; its evidence is largely anecdotal. The fact is that documented instances of flying squid are incredibly rare. Most people are unprepared for such a sight.
Recently, however, on a cruise ship off the coast of Brazil, retired geologist and amateur photographer Bob Hulse captured what may be the best-ever photographic evidence of flying squid. Hulse sent the pictures to University of Hawaii oceanographer Richard Young, who passed them along to Ron O'Dor, senior scientist for the Census of Marine Life. O'Dor thinks he can analyze the photos to gain a better understanding of squid aerodynamics, which few people have been able to properly study due to lack of adequate documentation.
"Hulse was shooting with burst mode on his camera, so I know exactly what the interval is between the frames and I can calculate velocity of squid flying though the air," O'Dor says. "We now think there are dozens of species that do it. Squid are used to gliding in the water, so the same physiology probably allows them to maneuver and glide in the air. When you look at some of the pictures, it seems they are more or less using their fins as wings, and they are curling their arms in [a] shape that could easily be some kind of lifting surface."
More details here...
Source:
Scientific American
