Wednesday, February 17, 2010

THE RED GIANTS OF THE DEEP SEA

As a Terengganu guy I'm no stranger to squids and cuttlefish. Besides enjoying the squids' mantle, the heads and of course the delicious eggs I am always fascinated loooking at both of these creatures in their domain.

Still vivid in my mind how I spent hours in the sea at Perhentian island (then it was still in its pristine state) just watching a cuttle fish play acting. It knew that I was watching, so it did many colour versions right in front of me.

But Discovery's Squid Invasion was something extraordinary, even for me. The Humboldt squids, or the red giants as they are also known as, are huge squids.

There are still much unknown about the deep-ocean creatures. They are very intelligent. We can tell by their brain size.

When they are in feeding frenzy, they are known to gobble up their own kind, what more us humans! Their beak-like mouths are just awesome and awfully sharp.

They are now invading US shores, causing much damage to other sea creatures.

They have three hearts, thus explaining their ability to dive very deep into the sea in search of food and also to escape predators - whales.

So, whenever you are enjoying grilled squids, just remember deep in the sea somewhere there are the red giants just waiting for unwary divers.

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