Posted: Friday, October 17, 2008 12:00 am
Nadine Patterson and Gary Culp were strolling on the beach about 1,000 yards south of the Peter Iredale shipwreck Oct. 9 when they discovered four large Humboldt squid (three feet long) that had washed up on the sand about 100 feet apart.
The couple called the Ear from the beach, then started sending photos from Culp's cell phone (two of them are above) every few minutes. Culp said he had never seen squid that large in more than 40 years of fishing.
The Ear spoke to Tiffany Boothe at the Seaside Aquarium, alerting her to the couple's find, and hoping for some answers to the squid mystery. The next day, Boothe e-mailed the Ear with some details about what she thinks happened:
"Humboldt squid are not native to this area; they live in warmer waters off of the California coast," Boothe wrote. "Every once in a while a warm water current that is running off shore brings these guys up north. At some point, this warm water current dissipates, leaving the squid in water that is far too cold for them. They get hypothermia and wash in. In 2004, we had quite a few wash ashore. Some were still alive."
Of the episode last week, she said, "All together we counted 15 squid from the Peter Iredale to Gearhart."
You can read more about the Aquarium's findings at (www.beachconnection.net/news/squid101208_1023.php)
Reprinted with permission of The Daily Astorian of Astoria, Oregon.
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