BajaNomad - Baja Humboldt Squid attack

Baja Humboldt Squid attack

gonetobaja - 7-14-2006 at 05:39 PM

Some of you may know our work with the Humboldt Squid. We are having a world premier screening of our new documentary regarding feeding habits of the Giant Hunboldt Squid on Krill, each other, and divers. The event will be held on July the 25th in Hollywood at the Pacific Theater. Admission is FREE so everyone can show. there are 1000 seats at the theater.

Short Trailer
http://www.seaofdemons.com/Movies/FlashMovie_5/NewTrailer_v5...

for more info go to
http://www.seaofdemons.com

GTB

[Edited on 7-15-2006 by gonetobaja]

[Edited on 7-15-2006 by gonetobaja]

Bruce R Leech - 7-14-2006 at 05:52 PM

gonetobaja any chance of that being sold on video latter on? Iwould realy like to see that .

BajaNomad - 7-14-2006 at 06:45 PM

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=18044

Has this already been screened on TV?

vgabndo - 7-14-2006 at 06:47 PM

I saw something VERY similar. Especially the diver with the armored suit. There was a sequence with a Mexican fisherman who's panga was disabled, and he tried to swim to a nearby boat and got terribly bitten.

I hope it was you, 'cause it was GREAT work. I liked the idea that they were not great predators of man, but if you were in the water when lots of their buddies were being dragged to surface with jigs it was a good idea to have eyes in the back of your head! At least.

Frank - 7-14-2006 at 06:53 PM

I just watched the trailer...WOW!!! Will this movie play anyother place other then Hollyweird?

gonetobaja - 7-14-2006 at 07:16 PM

Como esta guys,

All of the above work is one and the same. Our dive team Sea Wolves Unlimited are the same ones in the article, and the same ones in the videos, and the same ones on Discovery Channel. The release that is going to happen is basicly a screening to show some of the different distributors what we are doing and such. This is the first show in a series of show that we are releasing about the sea of cortez. This particular show called "Demonio Rojo" lays out the truth of the Humboldt Squid in stark detail by camera. We go through the thought processes and dives that led Scott to make armor, there is amazing never before seen footage of these amazing creatures. Some of the video was shot during the above mentioned article from Outside magazine. In the video it even features some flying footage from Baja Nomads very own Capt Mike!! Mike was actually involved in the Outside magazine expedition, His baja Bird is shown on video. Thanks to the Capt for getting us in and out with zero problems.

The showing right now is going to be in Hollywood because thats where the hollywood people live. the theater is 1000 seats and the admission is free. It will for sure come out on video, its just a matter of when. If a good distributor likes it we may make it a full 120min documentary and put it in theaters. For now I just want to share it with as many people as possible.

Untill then I am heading down to Loreto again on Sunday to swim with some more Calimari.

When they get close I just hold up a bottle of tartar sauce, its like holy water to those things...... :spingrin:

GTB

capt. mike - 7-15-2006 at 05:30 AM

Good Job Dale!!
might come out for it.
that was a fun trip. Say hi to Scott for me, i see him on TV a lot.

Wonderful wonderful work.

vgabndo - 7-15-2006 at 11:04 AM

The Discovery Channel show was super.

Thanks again for going where so many of us can't or won't.

[Edited on 7-15-2006 by vgabndo]

Paulina - 7-15-2006 at 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gonetobaja
Como esta guys,

When they get close I just hold up a bottle of tartar sauce, its like holy water to those things...... :spingrin:

GTB

That is too funny, I think I'll add tartar sauce to my packing list from now on for when nature calls and I have to jump over the side of the panga...

P<*)))><

Ken Bondy - 7-15-2006 at 05:34 PM

Dale

When I click on the link to the trailer I get the title scene (which is beautiful, BTW), and the progress bar at the bottom, then the little pointer starts to move from left to right but nothing changes on the screen. It just remains the same with the "Demonio Rojo" title at the top. Any suggestions?

++Ken++

PS your story about the trip with the kids was great. My kids "grew up" in Baja doing trips like that and it enriched all of our lives.

Stickers - 7-15-2006 at 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Dale

When I click on the link to the trailer I get the title scene (which is beautiful, BTW), and the progress bar at the bottom, then the little pointer starts to move from left to right but nothing changes on the screen. It just remains the same with the "Demonio Rojo" title at the top. Any suggestions?

++Ken++

I had the same problem. I re-downloaded "flash player" and it ran fine. (scary)

capt. mike - 7-16-2006 at 06:06 AM

yeah Ken - you have to load the flash player. i did it with Adobe and its fine.

you can see more at www.gonetobaja.com

Dale - i have to be in phx on the tues it shows so can't attend. would love to see the aerial stuff we did - lemme know the minute private DVDs are avail!!

Ken Bondy - 7-16-2006 at 06:54 AM

stickers and capt. mike THANKS - I downloaded the flash player and it works fine now. Loved the trailer!!!

Its finaly ready for sale!!!

gonetobaja - 11-29-2006 at 07:53 PM

After many months of work we have finaly finished our DVD. The same show that showed in Hollyweird has been polished up even more and is now for sale. Its the story of Scott Cassell and his search for a child hood dream, the giant squid. When he finds out that there is a legend of a MAN EATING SQUID he takes an expedition to investigate. That is when he is first attacked. The documentary then goes on to show how he developed armor to survive diving with these animals. Footage includes night diving into a feeding swarm of humboldt squid and the now famous attack footage he got during his "test" dive to see if they where dangerous in the daytime. A great movie on the Humboldt Squid in Baja CA!!

You can buy it at http://www.seaofdemons.com

GTB

Bruce R Leech - 11-29-2006 at 08:32 PM

to cool Im going to get one.

thanks gonetobaja

Sharksbaja - 11-29-2006 at 09:09 PM

totally soooo coooool!

Iflyfish - 11-29-2006 at 10:57 PM

Man oh man!!!

Revenge of the calmari

Iflyfish but not for those critters

FARASHA - 11-30-2006 at 12:09 AM

:wow:

they look by far bigger then I am ( and probably got more weight too), Armor or not - I wouldn't want to be their Snack! But looks COOL :cool:

Osprey - 11-30-2006 at 06:35 AM

Pangeros around here told me killer squid stories years ago and I believed them. 7 years ago I wrote a story about an attack. It's 4 or 5 pages. Should I post it or will it just clutter up a good thread?

FARASHA - 11-30-2006 at 08:15 AM

I am very much interested OSPREY. Especially as a diver I always want to hear stories about marine life.SO, if nobody else want's to read it - then just mail it to me!! :bounce:

BUT I guess there are enough people on the board who are as much interested as I am. :biggrin:

Osprey - 11-30-2006 at 08:18 AM

Guarded Condition

It was way too hot to walk that time of day so Casey and I took my two little green quad-runners to Chapito's to get stuff for lunch, some more beer, ice for the next morning's fishing trip along the shore of the Sea of Cortez. The store is the biggest and best the little town has to offer. I see more and more tourists in rented VW bugs stopping there for cokes and beer, ice, on their way to Cabo Pulmo or the beaches out at Frailes. Once in the store, I knew from Casey's eyes, the way he stood, caught in mid-stride, that he had seen Panchito. The little Mexican was filling the bins in the produce section with potatoes, onions. He looked up, right at Casey with that dour look; the scars, his posture, the vacancy in his dark eyes almost telling the story without me.
Panchito spotted me, watched me set down the case of empty beer bottles, limped toward the big beer cooler to fetch a case of cold Pacificos. No real emotion in his look. He tolerates me, shows me no sign of goodwill or of hatred -- the same blank indifference he gives everyone. Casey watched him, saw all of this. I said hello to Lupita at the counter, paid and was ready for the question as my old fishing partner helped me lug the stuff to the motos.
"What's with that guy? He looks like he got run over by a train with a ghost for an engineer."
"Worse than that I'm afraid. I'll tell you the whole story over lunch and a few beers." I put the beer on the bike. My old friend Casey was suddenly a ghost himself, a harmless, plump Casper, melting, reappearing, a bouncing blur in the clouds of dust thrown up by the big balloon tires of my quadrunner.
I've known Casey for thirty years. This is only the fourth or fifth time he has come down to fish with me along the shore. I have been fishing, guiding with fly rod, from the shore for more than ten years, since I sold my last boat. He's never asked me why I don't use a boat, fish only from the shore. Maybe it's time he knew.
"Casey, that guy at the store, Panchito, is the reason I don't have a boat anymore. He's the reason for a lot of things I don't do anymore."
"You know I've owned lots of nice boats. You remember the Lucianne II, the little Whaler, Mi Sueno? Well this thing didn't happen on my boat. It happened on the Charmer, a thirty foot Fishercraft. Frank Werner, a big tall, skinny guy I fished with at Los Barriles, hired Panchito to crew and clean the boat he kept moored out in front of Verdugo's trailer park. It was April second, two days after Panchito's twenty-first birthday. Little Panchito, no more than five-foot-nothin, a grin like a little fox, could outfish, outwork any two other deck-hands in the area. He had worked for Frank since he was just a teen, over three years. The three of us headed out at first light, bought some sardines and four or five big bait fish, set a course for the south end of Cerralvo Island where the recent marlin, dorado bite had been pretty good."
"Twelve miles out we started trolling lures. I put out a bird teaser without a hook. Ten minutes into the troll both reels went off. Frank slowed the boat, Panchito and I grabbed the rods but none of us could see what had hit the lures. Then we all saw what was happening to the teaser, the bright green thing that looks like a child's airplane toy. You and I used em, remember, they're designed to skip over the water, make noise, splash, attract big fish to the lures or bait trailing behind it."
"Squid, big squid, maybe forty or fifty pounds. One had a tenuous grasp on the teaser, unable to latch onto the slippery plastic, the other two lures with big double hooks were obviously being pulled out and down by big squid. They were schooled up, feeding, right on the surface. Frank and I could not believe they had been swift enough to catch up to our lures -- we had been trolling at about ten miles per hour. The boat was in a hundred fathoms of water -- had these deep-water creatures come up to find bait on the surface? There were hundreds of them, many now trying to catch, kill and eat the ones dragging behind our lures. As we reeled in the lures, more followed, ensnaring the two remaining animals caught up in our hooks. One fell away leaving the lure free to be reeled quickly back to the boat. The other big squid was hooked good, we had to fend off three or four of his attackers, bring him aboard with the gaff, return him to his fate."
"As the little deck-hand swabbed the rear deck, cleaned up the ink, the slime, he repeated the words muy peligroso, muy malo, very dangerous, very bad. Frank and I both smiled. Over the years we had heard the yarns, all the fantastic myth and mystery -- superstitions about killer manta rays, sea snakes, giant octopus, the rare cachalote, the sperm whale whose giant mouth could eat a fishing boat, fishermen and all. When we found squid on the bottom, when we needed them for bait we simply dropped down a big squid jig, sometimes two or three hundred feet, pulled up one or two, threw them in the bait well -- you need only to avoid the beak in the center of the tentacles, the mouth of the animal, just below the head. The beak looks just like that of a huge parrot, sharp and menacing.
The tentacles feel spooky when they latch onto you but when you pull them off, expecting to see big red circles left by the suckers, usually there is only a slight discoloration of the skin. After you bring them in with the gaff don't let the things get enough grasp on your hand, arm, that they can pull it up near the beak."
"We could see the first set of buoys near Punta Pescadero on the horizon to the north. We motored at half throttle to a point near the second set of buoys just a little farther north. I popped my first beer of the day taking in the cobalt water, the morning mist obscuring the island, the smell of bait and engine exhaust. While Frank and Panchito rigged for bait, threw some sardines out near the buoy to bring up some fish, I took the helm."
"I saw the piece of yellow nylon rope floating next to the white foam buoy -- I supposed it was attached to the buoy, paid it no attention. Suddenly the motor chugged, balked, jumped; I killed the motor. I knew what had happened -- we had run over the piece of rope, picked it up in the prop, shut the whole thing down. Frank and the Mexican looked over the stern and confirmed the problem. In the next few minutes we all tried to get a grip on the rope, unwind it but none of us could reach it, get a good grasp--somebody was going to have to go in the water. Who else, the young Mexican. Panchito looked up at Frank, then at me, hesitated, looked around for another boat which might be close enough to come over, lend a hand. Frank said gosh darnnit, started to take off his shirt.
The little Mexican said "Okay, Okay, yo voy, I'll go".
"Panchito took some pesos, cigarettes and matches from the pocket of his tan shorts, took off his cap, rolled the stuff in the cap, dropped it on a bench seat, slid over the side. Frank leaned over the stern to help the little guy and give instruction. I was on the rail watching the boat drift slowly away from the buoy. It was deadly quiet. I looked deep below the boat and back towards the buoy, where we had chummed with handfuls of sardines. The small bait fish sparkled like flakes of platinum against the royal blue water. I was hoping to see dorado teased up to this small meal, showing the distinctive golden fire they flash from gill to tail when feeding."
"Then I saw them. The squid. At first just glimpses of rust red hulks darting out to take the small silver bait fish. Two, then a third, then a group of ten or more coming up rapidly from the depths of the boat shadow into the blue-green clarity that was the upper sixty feet of water at the surface. Frank, I think I yelled Frank. He turned, saw my look, my hand pointing, I was yelling squid, squid, get him up here, get him up here. In the second it took us to run to the stern rail, the squid had reached the Mexican's feet and legs dangling beneath his slim body. Before we could reach him the first big animals had him by the legs, began to tear at his flesh. A scream like that of a small child died in his throat as he lost his hold on the motor housing, was pulled beneath the surface.
Now the creatures were all around the stern boiling the surface water with the pumping of their swimming tubes."
"I threw a boat cushion in the water, Frank got both gaffs. We were both afraid to go in the water. The little Mexican was down there fighting for his life and we could do little to help him. Frank thrust the long handle of the gaff below the surface as far as he could reach -- perhaps Panchito would see it, grab it. The Mexican kid broke free for a second, did not find the gaff handle, grabbed for the boat cushion, pulled it under -- the squid were weighing him down, a biting writhing blur now disappearing in the shadow of the boat. My boating partner turned the gaff around and quickly hooked the handle of the cushion as it disappeared under the boat. We both pulled with all our strength, a brief tug-of-war; a contest of life or death for our little friend. Panchito and the animals were no longer visible, lost in a cloud of blood and ink. The boy got a second hand on the handle of the cushion, fought his way to the surface. I gaffed a big squid attached to his head, neck and right shoulder -- I was careful to point the big hook away from the boy. As I wrested a second animal from the boy's hip Frank pulled so hard that, as the weight of the creatures was released, Panchito was literally pulled up and into the boat all in one motion. I gaffed a big squid still wrapped around his foot, pulled it clear and dropped it over the side."
"The little guy was a mess. He'd taken on a lot of water. Didn't need a whole lot of CPR, just a few pushes on his strong, young chest and he was breathing, spitting up cups of sea water. I took off his T shirt, looked him over to assess the damage. He had received inch-deep lacerations from the ugly beaks in more than a dozen places. The deepest was a wound behind his left knee. Luckily his neck arteries were free of damage. Two of his toes were mangled, his cheek was an open wound. Most of the wounds were serious but controllable -- Frank and I were both worried about the one behind the knee, pumping blood at a dangerous rate. I compressed the wound and made a tourniquet for the left thigh while Frank used the emergency radio band, reported the whole situation to the clinic and to the office of the Port Captain. Then he gave the same message to the local talk channel asking for boat assistance. The boy was unconscious, in shock, cold to the touch. We got him under the shade, covered him, began to compress the other wounds. All we could do now was wait for help -- wait for help and pray."
"A hotel boat, a cruiser from Palmas was the nearest boat. They took the kid in as fast as that old hulk could go. It was a guy in a twenty seven foot Stephens, I think it was Chuck, Chuck something who pulled us back to our mooring buoy. By the time Frank and I got to the clinic the kid was already in the hospital in La Paz. When we called they said he was in guarded condition. I will never understand those hospital terms. We didn't really find out how he was doin’ until they let us see him almost a week later."

"He was asleep. He was in a nice, white room in the General Hospital. His wounds had all been attended to, were healing. The doctors said he might have some long-term problems with his left leg and his right foot. A doctor Ortiz asked me if the boy had a speech problem. My first thought was that Frank and I had failed to see a wound on the neck, one that might have affected his voice box. We told him the boy was speaking fine before the accident. The doctor looked both of us in the eye, shook his head in a way that I will never forget."
He said. " No es una accidente, Senores."
"I don't know if it was me or Frank who said the word accident. I've tried to remember exactly, I really have -- I'd like to think it was Frank but I could have said it." "Well Casey, Panchito got better. He has a job. He gets along. As far as I know he has never uttered a single word since we pulled him from the water. Whatever happened down there, in just those few chilling moments, the sheer terror of the thing changed everything for the little guy. It changed everything for me, Frank, other people. What he experienced took away his speech, his happiness, his chance at a good life. Left him with nothing but nightmares. It's my fault. I can't change what happened. I have relived the thing over and over a million times; what's it been, ten, twelve years? I played the thing every which way -- self-doubt, shame, recrimination, denial, acceptance, self-pity, start over. Margaret, gone. Boat, gone. Almost got rid of this place just to get away from here, from the water, the memories of the accident."
"Gringos think money can solve all the problems of the world. Frank's father-in-law had been a high-paid attorney for the New York mob, had a ton of money, loaned some to Frank. When I wasn't drunk I'd help Frank try to sort out our legal financial responsibilities to the little worker from our moral obligations. It got very complicated. In the end a little over $20,000 from Frank and about $8,000 that I had to scrape up was put in the right hands to set the matter straight. The boy could draw the money from an account at IMSS, the Mexican Social Security Department, so much a month until the money was gone. After that he would get his small monthly payment from the government in accordance with his disability. His sister, Marta could read and write. Panchito lived with Marta and her husband; she would help him with the money, look after him, help him find work. A Mexican attorney working for the government in La Paz assured Frank and I, in writing, that our legal obligations were fulfilled for all time."
"Frank went back to Oregon in `94. I stayed around. I don't know why."
"I saw a new truck in front of Marta's house. I don't think the money lasted all that long. At first the sister was quietly receptive when I stopped by to see how her brother was doing. Not more than eight or nine months later, when I went to the house, started to get out of my truck, she came through the door, yelled via te, go away. I still see her around town. She looks right through me."
"Casey, now when I'm on the shore, walking, fishing, I look out to sea, watch the big cruisers flying by to get to the early tuna bite. On those boats there are guys like me, Frank. They think the sea is their own private fish market, their own theme park, all fun and games. They become experts in all the things under the sea. That's exactly what I used to think. I want to reach out to them, pull them aside, talk to them. Remind them to listen, listen to the fishermen before they chalk up talk about the creatures of the sea to myth, superstition, go over to the little store, Panchito can tell you, just with his eyes, that in your big, blue theme park, some of the monsters are real."

Don Alley - 11-30-2006 at 08:38 AM

Great read, Osprey. Thanks for posting.

I've hooked up with big squid fishing from my kayak. Brings to mind the line from the movie Jaws: "You need a bigger boat."

gonetobaja - 11-30-2006 at 08:44 AM

Damn!! I had to edit my post!! I thought that story was real!!!! The last dive I did with them in full body armor I got attacked 8 times in 6 seconds!! I was not hurt but I can see that the story above could have been real, no problem. I pray that it never comes true but the senario you just wrote about could happen easily.

Good Story!!!!!!

GTB
www.sea-wolves.com

[Edited on 11-30-2006 by gonetobaja]

FARASHA - 11-30-2006 at 08:49 AM

What a story - quite scary, and yes, I agree, the SEA is more then just a Themepark for fun and pleasure. I always had and will have, a lot of respect for what is out there. We should never underestimate the Nature's ( Sea or Land) Power.
Thanks for posting / sharing this story!

gonetobaja - 11-30-2006 at 08:51 AM

By the way guys, My partner Scott Cassell and myself hooked a camera on a 5 ft humboldt and let it go. We had a 1000ft camera cable on it. Down in the deep a giant squid came up to eat it. We got the whole thing on tape. I saw the tape in the hotel room before we gave it to history channel. The squid that tried to eat our 5 footer was at least 3x bigger. I know I am just a diver and not a scientest but the forensics guy who viewed the footage says the squid is massive. There will be a press release very soon on it. They get big in the gulf of CA and they are dangerous. Dont dive with them unless you have protection.
GTB

Osprey - 11-30-2006 at 09:00 AM

A big mystery to me (and probably marine scientists too) is the when and how of the build-up of amonia occurs. The "why" is because the creature has a need to use the sea roof to floor in a certain territory and uses amonia like a diver uses weights, ropes, buoys to work at different depths. Catch a big one at 150 feet, prepare it your special way and if he has built up amonia your palate will have the same taste sensation as if you had just took the cable off your car battery and tried to suck on the diode. (now how would I know that?)

gonetobaja - 11-30-2006 at 09:04 AM

I have been told that the squid urinate through the skin. The bigger the squid the more the bulidup of the urine (amonia) in the animal.

Thats what I heard....

FARASHA - 11-30-2006 at 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gonetobaja
Dont dive with them unless you have protection.
GTB

Which would be a body armor and a bundle of Dynamite?? :biggrin:

I mean I'm not easy to scare, and didn't mind having sharks around me in the past, but I think I would probably wet my suit if faced with one of those BIG squids.
But - HEY, just one Life to live HM?? And I could get some pampers with me!

BTW- GTB, a good website you got!!Hope to join you some time soon!!

FARASHA - 11-30-2006 at 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gonetobaja
I have been told that the squid urinate through the skin. The bigger the squid the more the bulidup of the urine (amonia) in the animal.

Thats what I heard....

YUK, thats it - no more calamari at the restaurant!!

Crusoe - 11-30-2006 at 06:47 PM

Osprey--- Thank you so much for sharing. You did everything in your power to correct an unavoidable circumstance. Do not blame yourself. Its called life. Be well----- Crusoe :wow: