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Killer Squid

bajablue - 9-25-2005 at 08:07 PM

great show on the discovery channel right now on the "killer squid" in the sea of cortez. Anybody see it or have any stories?

Diver - 9-25-2005 at 08:35 PM

I'm seeing it right now.

I've seen small squid while diving and caught some small ones with a night light and scoop net.

I love calamari; fryed, ceviche, in marinara fra diavlo...

Boy, could you feed a bunch of people fried calamari with one of those Humbolts ! Got any Humbolt recipes Sharks ? BTW, the food on your website looks delicious !!

.

Diver

Sharksbaja - 9-26-2005 at 12:53 AM

I also like squid, cooked properly. 30 secs and no more deep fryed. Nope, we don't fry. Besides, fresh squid is the only way to go. They never get landed here or anywhere close to here. I actually do have a couple recipes up my sleeve tho. Thanks for the note. If yer ever in the neighborhood, come by I'll buy ya couple shooters (pistoleros).

capt. mike - 9-26-2005 at 01:35 PM

Famous baja watersports guide Dale Pearson of Gone To Baja fame will be filming these critters soon at hight in their natural habitat. I plan on being on the boat watching, not in the water!!

Sea Monsters

bajabum - 9-26-2005 at 04:09 PM

They are thick as fleas at times around SLC off of San Marcos Island. A few years ago we camped at SLC and followed the commercial panga fleet out each night from 8pm-2am. They were hand lining tons of squid with a fleet of about 50-100 pangas and we were there to catch the Dodos that were participating in the feast created by the mauruding squid! We would catch a squid and use it as chunk bait for the Dodos and when we got tired of catching those we would drop iron for squid. They are like catching a freight train and it got pretty interesting when it was time to boat em and retrieve your jig without donating any fingers or getting slimed! The schools are huge, maybe the size of several football fields and they shred everything and anything they can catch...I would not want to fall over board. They were very fast and agile swimmers that turned on a dime and headed back into the depths when they saw the boat as they chased our jigs to the surface. A few times they grabbed my arm with thier suckered tentacles leaving a red welt the size of a quarter!

Humbolt Squid at SLC

Skipjack Joe - 9-26-2005 at 04:38 PM

Below is a male squid caught at our doorstep at SLC. It's really a dink compared to the females off San Marcos. Note the ink it's releasing on the right. It's my understanding that the males die after spawning, hence their presence in the coves. I fried this one up and we had it for lunch. It had the familiar calamari taste we all love but was considerably tougher than our local California species Loligo opalescens that we buy in the supermarkets. The mantle steaks are a solid one inch thick. I am not sure if tenderizing the steaks would help. They were tasty but rather chewy.

Sharks or anyone?

bajablue - 9-26-2005 at 04:59 PM

what is the best way to tenderize the thicker ones. I have come across those in the past as well and have just tried to lightly saut? them, but it was really tough. Even tried to fry them, but just wasn't the same.. Any tips on getting them tender?

comitan - 9-26-2005 at 06:14 PM

With the large Squid that I have cooked I have not been able to get what I would say was a saltwater taste out of them. We tried with the outer skin removed, freezing and thawing still not good for my taste, I know a lot of other people who have complained about that problem. When you go into a restuarant you don't get that tast.

bajaden - 9-26-2005 at 10:14 PM

Calamar, if prepared properly can be cut with a fork. Pompano is right. It all has to do with the membrane. Hard to explain. Much easier to show. By the way I was down at Jungle Jims tonight and John was telling stories of catching, I believe he said, 40 pound calamar. Im not sure when, and we had all had a few. I believe Mulege Marv has the complete story.

Frank - 9-27-2005 at 12:02 AM

We had a huge run of them in San Diego this year, up to 55 pounds. The big trick we found was to get the membrane off of BOTH sides, the inner one is a little hard to see. After thats done we use a tenderizer and soak overnight in milk, then panko and deep fry.

[Edited on 9-27-2005 by Frank]

Off Loreto...

LaTijereta - 9-27-2005 at 05:41 AM

Skeet/Loreto - 9-27-2005 at 06:09 AM

One of the main reasons that the Large Squid do not tast good is that the PH level changes at a certain time of their Life Span usually at the time they are much smaller.

I have always found "the smalle the better tasting.

Skeet?Loreto

Chris>is that your original Ponga?

ursidae69 - 9-27-2005 at 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajablue
great show on the discovery channel right now on the "killer squid" in the sea of cortez. Anybody see it or have any stories?

I've never eaten a Humbolt, just the smaller ones, but I have to say this show was great. The way they can change colors so fast is unbelievable. When you guys catch them, are they changing color in the boat too before they die?

are these the same squid that hang out in san lucas cove...

eetdrt88 - 9-27-2005 at 09:31 AM

right close to shore,while we there my buddy speared one and we cut it up and cooked it but it was almost impossible to chew...i kinda figured that it was the wrong type of squid for eatin,but maybe if i had tried some of the above methods it would have been better :light:

Skipjack Joe - 9-27-2005 at 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ursidae69

Quote:

Originally posted by bajablue
great show on the discovery channel right now on the "killer squid" in the sea of cortez. Anybody see it or have any stories?

Yes they do change color as you say. And it's fascinating to watch. The one my son is holding in the above picture would change from a deep maroon color to a very pale color in seconds before your very eyes. ,It was almost like some people's faces flush at being embarassed. It looks as though these animals are going through emotional changes - perhaps fear and anger. There is a danger in associating human emotions with the siimpler animals but it's very hard to resist that when you actually see it.

bajablue - 9-27-2005 at 02:01 PM

great info and tips guys, thank you...

Skipjack Joe - 9-27-2005 at 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
Who can say, maybe someday one of us fishermen will pull up something like the ________? caught off Africa a decades ago. Remember that one? It was supposed to be extinct a couple million years ago. Next time you are fishing really, really deep......perhaps.

Coelocanth. I remember it well. I was in school at the time and they made a big todo about it at the Academy here in SF. All packed in ice, it was. The natives off Madagascar had actually caught it.

Anyway, about the squid. I don't think these humbolt squid were in baja in such numbers before. At first I thought that they were there all along until someone 'discovered' their presence and the fishery started. But now I just think they just moved in about 10 years ago into those waters.

Thanks for the life history of these critters, pompano. Personally, I like that kind of stuff. And that kind of information is not always real easy to find either, even with our great search engines.

skipjack

heres one off yahoo i saw today about the big ones...

eetdrt88 - 9-27-2005 at 06:19 PM

Scientists capture giant squid on camera

1 hour, 55 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean -- the giant squid.

Until now the only information about the behavior of the creatures which measure up to 18 meters (59 feet) in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.

But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of Architeuthis attacking bait 900 meters (yards) below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific.

"We show the first wild images of a giant squid in its natural environment," they said in a report on Wednesday in the journal Proceedings B of the Royal Society.

Little is known about the creatures because it has been so difficult to locate and study them alive. Large ships and specialist equipment, which is costly, are needed to study deep sea environments.

The Japanese scientists found the squid by following sperm whales, the most effective hunters of giant squid, as they gathered to feed between September and December in the deep waters off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands in the North Pacific.

They used a remote long-line camera and depth logging system to capture the giant squid in the ocean depths.

"The most dramatic character of giant squids is the pair of extremely long tentacles, distinct from the eight shorter arms. The long tentacles make up to two-thirds of the length of the dead specimens to date," the scientists said in the journal.

They added that the giant squid appear to be a much more active predator than researchers had suspected and tangled their prey in their elongated feeding tentacles.

...there was some pictures but they werent to big,go to yahoo to check them out

elgatoloco - 9-28-2005 at 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

A Fish Caught in Time by Samantha Weinberg is a very good read. It chronicles the amazing story of the people/science involved with the discovery of the ceolcanth.

Tucker - 9-28-2005 at 11:47 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170632,00.html

Giant Squid Finally Captured on Film
Wednesday, September 28, 2005

PHOTOS

Click image to enlarge
STORIES
?
Jumbo Flying Squid Found Off Alaska
TOKYO ? When a nearly 20-foot long tentacle was hauled aboard his research ship, Tsunemi Kubodera knew he had something big. Then it began sucking on his hands. But what came next excited him most ? hundreds of photos of a purplish-red sea monster doing battle 3,000 feet deep.

It was a rare giant squid (search), a creature that until then had eluded observation in the wild.

Kubodera's team captured photos of the 26-foot-long beast attacking its bait, then struggling for more than four hours to get free. The squid pulled so hard on the line baited with shrimp that it severed one of its own tentacles.

"It was quite an experience to feel the still-functioning tentacle on my hand," Kubodera, a researcher with Japan's National Science Museum, told The Associated Press. "But the photos were even better."

For centuries giant squids, formally called Architeuthis (search), have been the stuff of legends, appearing in the myths of ancient Greece or attacking a submarine in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." But they had never been seen in their natural habitat, only caught in fishing nets or washed ashore dead or dying.

The Japanese team, capping a three-year effort, filmed the creature in September of last year, finding what one researcher called "the holy grail" of deep-sea animals.

The results were not announced until this week, when they were published in Wednesday's issue of the British journal, the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Kyoichi Mori, of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association (search), co-authored the study.

Giant squid are the world's largest invertebrates, having been known to exceed 50 feet. Kubodera said the one he caught on camera was probably an adult female. He said the squid's tentacle would not grow back, but its life was not in danger.

The photos earned the team cheers from researchers around the world, largely because of the difficulty of finding the mysterious giant.

"That's getting footage of a real sea monster," said Randy Kochevar, a deep-sea biologist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium (search) in California. "Nobody has been able to observe a large giant squid where it lives. There are people who said it would never be done. It's really an incredible accomplishment."

The photos ? taken with strobe lights at 30-second intervals ? also shed some new light on the animal's behavior.

"We think it is a much more active predator than was previously thought," Kubodera said Wednesday. "It had previously been seen as more lethargic, and not as strong."

In the pictures, the squid's tentacles can be seen stretching out toward the bait, grasping it and pulling away in a ball. It is then seen struggling to get itself free of the jig attached to the line under the remote-controlled camera. The struggle took place at a depth of between 2,000-3,000 feet.

Kudodera said catching the squid on film was the result of 10 years of sleuthing.

He added that he had some help ? from a population of sperm whales (search).

"We knew that they fed on the squid, and we knew when and how deep they dived," he said. "So we used them to lead us to the squid."

Kudodera and his team found the squid about 10 miles off the remote island of Chichijima (search), which is about 600 miles southeast of Tokyo. They had been conducting expeditions in the area for about three years before they actually succeeded in making their first contact at 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 20 last year.

"We were very lucky," he said. "A lot of research went into it, but still, others have tried and not succeeded."

New Zealand's leading authority on the giant squid, marine biologist Steve O'Shea, praised the Japanese team's feat.

"Through sheer ... determination the guy has gone on and done it," said O'Shea, chief marine scientist at the Auckland University of Technology (search), who is not linked to the Japanese research.

O'Shea said he hopes to capture juvenile giant squid and grow them in captivity. He captured 17 of them five years ago but they died

This and that about squid

Skipjack Joe - 9-29-2005 at 10:16 AM

Social dying: This summer I spent a bit of time at Calamanue and during one of my walks came upon an inlet that just reeked with decomposition. During low tide the sea water was a putrid white color but I couldn't find any garbage. My first thought was that the pangueros were dumping their bycatch in this inlet. Then I started to see those tranlucent pens. Finally I came upon the remaining squid corpses. Their must have been tens of thousands of them. They had chosen the quietest inlet in a protected cove and died together.

salmon vs squid:What's interesting about the way squid die is that they seem to perfectly healthy as they get ready. The salmon I saw in Alaska seem to rot to death. I saw salmon whose fins were just rotting stubs. Some fish were totally battered, almost beyond recognition, and yet the gills were still pulsating. These squid at SLC arrive in full color without any apparent aging evidence. They just swim into the shallows and wait. So different.

calamari en su tinto: I was travelling through the Basque country with my friend on a Eurail Pass many years ago. We were staying in San Sebastian and would go for evening walks along the seashore to discover the local culture. At one of the outdoor market/restaurants I discovered a food item that looked simply disgusting. They had these little bowls with squid cut into pieces immersed in their own ink. They called it 'calamari en su tinto'. I just could not imagine anyone willfully putting that slop into their mouths. To me it was like drinking a bottle of ink. But there it was: a seafood delicacy much loved by the Basques. Perhaps someone has tried this and can tell me what it tastes like.

Natalie Ann - 9-29-2005 at 10:21 AM

Thank you for that answer Skipjack.... what is amazing is that I asked you about the squid and then this morning thought I edited my question - but it's no longer here so obviously I messed that up... amd you answered anyway.

Just for the record, I also commented how I love the story about your son and the squid, and the photo is outstanding. Thank you again.

[Edited on 9-29-2005 by Natalie Ann]

Natalie Ann - 9-29-2005 at 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
calamari en su tinto: I was travelling through the Basque country with my friend on a Eurail Pass many years ago. We were staying in San Sebastian and would go for evening walks along the seashore to discover the local culture. At one of the outdoor market/restaurants I discovered a food item that looked simply disgusting. They had these little bowls with squid cut into pieces immersed in their own ink. They called it 'calamari en su tinto'. I just could not imagine anyone willfully putting that slop into their mouths. To me it was like drinking a bottle of ink. But there it was: a seafood delicacy much loved by the Basques. Perhaps someone has tried this and can tell me what it tastes like.

Here's a guy who liked it, although he fails to say why.
I googled 'calamari en su tinto' and could not come up with a single recipe - 'spose they just 'ink it' and then toss the meat in?

comitan - 9-29-2005 at 04:01 PM

You can buy Pulpo(Octopus) en su tinta, Tuny brand in cans at the Lay's mkts. Its very good to use for a dip.

[Edited on 9-29-2005 by comitan]

[Edited on 9-29-2005 by comitan]

Natalie Ann - 9-29-2005 at 05:19 PM

So Comitan, what does it taste like? (and don't say chicken)

Natalie Ann

Skipjack Joe - 9-29-2005 at 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Natalie Ann
Just for the record, I also commented how I love the story about your son and the squid, and the photo is outstanding. Thank you again.

[Edited on 9-29-2005 by Natalie Ann]

Yeah, he is a good boy, he is.

I was thinking of starting a thread about baja from a child's viewpoint. I thought I could enter one of Alex's diary entries with all the bad sentence structure and mispellings. And also his drawings of fish and turtles. I thought other parents could join in. Haven't found a scanner yet so I never went through with it. I wonder if anyone would enjoy that sort of thing.

By the way, part of the dark right side of the picture is actually my shadow. But some of it is ink. I remember shooting that sequence.

skipjack

Natalie Ann - 9-29-2005 at 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
I was thinking of starting a thread about baja from a child's viewpoint. I thought I could enter one of Alex's diary entries with all the bad sentence structure and mispellings. And also his drawings of fish and turtles. I thought other parents could join in. Haven't found a scanner yet so I never went through with it. I wonder if anyone would enjoy that sort of thing.

skipjack

I would enjoy it, and I'm sure there are some others who would. Go for it! :yes:

yea joe,i like your idea..

eetdrt88 - 9-29-2005 at 05:51 PM

to me baja is about kids,i started goin there when i was a kid and now i take my kids there....somethin' about the beaches in baja that makes it such an awesome place to bring the youngsters :tumble:

Squid adventures and recipes

frizkie - 9-29-2005 at 08:28 PM

Several years ago I was working for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans doing marine research on the West Coast of Canada aboard various different large trawlers. One night we dragged aboard a Giant Squid. It's mantle was about 4.5 feet in length, then there was a mass where the head seemed to have once been but the eyes were gone. There seemed to have been six long tentacles but they were mostly broken off. It was quite dead, of course, and likely a baby compared to the one recently photographed. The mantle was very scarred up but it must've been two inches thick. As I remember he was dragged up from about 400 fathoms, these boats are fishing now at depths of 900 fathoms and maybe deeper these days. They were going deeper and deeper in the three years that I was out there. They are solely targeting on fish called Shortspined (and Longspined) Thornyheads (fish that we never have the oportunity to buy because the only country that can afford them is Japan). With the exception of a few large sablefish (blackcod|) they are the only marketable fish in these depths.
Lots of other wild and wonderful critters were hauled up from way down there. I was in my glory observing all this incredible sealife. I even discovered one myself that had never been found in the Pacific Ocean before....No, I did not get to call it the "Frizkie Fish", as many often ask me. :no:

The ichthyologists did know of a distant relative to this tiny wee guy somewhere in the North Atlantic and they called mine a Melamno Rabdis. He came up from 850 fathoms! That is like 1/4 of a mile deep!! My little fish was in the newspapers all across the country...he never knew I was going to make him so famous.

Anyways, back to squid. We were once surrounded by these same squid that you've seen in the Sea of Cortes. We were ten miles out from the closest land, it was at night, and we were surrounded by them, they were everywhere...we put the huge decklights on and, WOW!!!! :wow:

What a light show that was!!! :spingrin:

They were all changing colors from lime green, to purple, red, blue, yellow. They seemed to be attracted to the lights. It is a wonderful memory. We used a long handled net and managed to bring a few aboard and they still continued to change color and glow for some time. The boat I was on at that time, had the best chef in the entire fleet on it. So he prepared one of his favourite dishes for the crew. Raw Squid Salad...Yup, raw!!...It was delicious!! As I remember, it goes something like this:

He didn't take the largest squid, and he only used the mantle.
He cut a few pieces about 3x6 inches. Then we cleaned off the outer membrane (slime), which wasn't an easy job.
Then he cut in a criss-cross design through the meat on one side(like you do on a baked ham), after that he cut diagonal strips of the meat about 1/2-3/4" wide & 3-4" long. And then...the "Secret" ingredient...Balsamic Vinegar.....He marinaded the pieces of squid in that overnight in a covered bowl in the fridge. It does a great job of tenderizing the meat and kinda cooks the squid, like lime juice with ceviche. After a few hours in that, the pieces of squid curled up and looked almost like pasta.
The next afternoon we rinsed off the balsamic vinegar and he put it all together in a salad, with green onions, cherry tomatoes, celery, cucumber, and some sliced red onions. I'm not sure if I have all that right, but I know he didn't use lettuce, and I believe the dressing was a Japanese one, but likely any oil and vinegar combo would work well. Fantastico!! Very, Very, tasty!!
The secret was definitely in letting that squid soak, and soak, in the balsamic vinegar for many hours.

Another excellent marinade for squid is as follows:

1 red chilli finely chopped
3 tbsp coriander finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely choped
juice of one lime
100 ml soy sauce
3tbsp honey
1 tsp 5 spice powder ( Chinese)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil

Leave in a covered bowl in fridge for at least one hour.
Remove from marinade and throw on a hot BBQ for just a couple of minutes so that it is seared and has curled up, remove from BBQ. Mix up a dressing of :

juice of 1 lime
2 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp honey
freshly ground black pepper

Toss the squid with a generous handful of coriander leaves, 1 yellow, red, and green pepper (cut into long thin slices) and one spring onion, sliced long and thin.

Mmmmmmm!!! Nummmy!!

Go ahead jig up a few squid, give it a try, and tell me how you liked it. :yes:

Last Post

Skipjack Joe - 9-30-2005 at 11:16 AM

Well Fritzkie, no one has answered your post and it's the last one on the thread, possibly leaving you wondering what's our reaction.

I, for one, really enjoyed reading it. It covered a lot of ground and brought back memories of similar experiences. There was even something for the baja dieting thread I saw a few days ago. I am interested in the idea of preparing squid by marinating it first. When it comes to seafood the Japanese are light years ahead of the rest of the world.

Your story about scooping up squid at night reminded me of a night like that years ago. I think there is something about night fishing that's just so special. I think that's why so many of us like catching those dumb mackerel at 5 in the morning. Catching mackerel during daylight just isn't the same.

Anyway we were on the backside of Catalina on a moonless night with the lights over the side to attract the squid. There were millions of them just floating around mesmerized by the light. And amongst them were blue sharks just gorging themselves on the bounty. There was so much food for them that parts of squid trailed out of their jaws as they swam by. Their gullets were filled to capacity.

Periodically you would hear these loud blasts from the rifle. The deckhand walked around the deck blasting the sharks that were close to the surface. We watched as the sharks slowly sank into the depths leaving a trail of red. It may seem shocking to hear it now but there was a different mentality then - a Hemingway mentality about sharks.

Heck, I can remember when each party boat kept a rifle for the sea lions that came into our chum lines. Captains felt they had a right to protect their customers pleasure.

But getting back to squidding at night. Mysterious, romantic, and great fun. Thanks for the post.

skipjack

KEWL!!!!

frizkie - 9-30-2005 at 08:37 PM

Now that would've been something to see!! The squid I saw were just chillin' having a good time, no threats of somebody higher up in the food chain happening by to do their thing.

Very interesting, I sure would have loved to have seen that!!

Thanks for sharing

Squid can be yucky

Sharksbaja - 10-1-2005 at 12:01 AM

I have vivid memories of fishing out handful after handful of spent, dying or decaying squid out of holding tanks I built for researchers. Squid have eyes that are very well developed and are very similar to our own. This makes them wonderful candidates for study and experiments.
Unfortunately the squid we pulled up behind Catalina Is. were always in the spawning mode with death close behind. Probably 3/4 of the specimens held for study died within 12 hrs.

I sort of lost my appetite for the purple yuck, er I mean calamari for quite a while.

The best way I have found to do "fresh" squid is to remove the mantle completely. This can be done easily under tap water with a pair of those knubby gloves with the plastic spots. Slice the squid as thin as possible with big ones, about a quarter in.

To really have a tender meal Calamari MUST BE cooked extremely hot and fast. Boiling oil is the best method and never, I repeat never cook it longer no than 30 seconds otherwise forget the squid and use rubber bands, their cheaper.

Another method is to tenderize and cook "cold" with an acidic marinade. Use a vinaigrette/Italiano or lemon/lime based juice and cover and refrigerate 8-12 hrs.