Jumbo squid wash onto SoCal beaches
By: Associated Press | ∞
NEWPORT BEACH -- Hundreds of giant squid -- the biggest weighing 17 pounds -- are washing up on Orange County beaches, creating a scene more akin to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" than "The O.C."
The bug-eyed sea creatures, believed to be Humboldt Squid, normally reside in deep water offshore and only come to the surface at night. That means people rarely see them.
Although they can bite, they are not aggressive by nature and don't attack swimmers.
"I have heard of this happening before, but it's not a common occurrence," lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer of the Newport Beach Fire Department said Wednesday.
Why approximately 500 of them began washing up on the sands of Laguna Beach and Newport Beach on Tuesday isn't clear. They might have been pursuing bait fish and gotten too close to shore, or the tides might simply have carried them in, authorities said.
Dave Anderson, who runs Capt. Dave's Dolphin Safari at Dana Point Harbor, said warm currents can bring in all kinds of interesting sea life.
"You get weird things sometimes," he said.
Authorities plan to remove the squid in the next couple of days and will give at least a couple to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History for research.
In the meantime, beachgoers were advised not to eat or even touch them.
"They probably have bacteria on them at this point," Bauer said.
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