There Goes The Neighborhood

Sounds like something out of an apocalyptic Hollywood thriller: Giant squids appearing off the coast of California, attacking scuba divers.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Thousands of jumbo flying squid—aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles—have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.

The clear message here is, don't fool with mother nature. Also, I find it amusing when naive adults anthropomorphize wildlife. The squid were "roughing up" divers? Those bullies!

Smart divers are staying out of the water:

"I wouldn't go into the water with them for the same reason I wouldn't walk into a pride of lions on the Serengeti," said Mike Bear, a local diver.

But some people think life is a Disney movie:

Yet other divers, including Shandra Magill, couldn't resist the chance to see the squid up close.

On a recent night, Magill watched in awe as a dozen squid with doleful, expressive eyes circled her group, tapping and patting the divers and gently bumping them before dashing away.

One especially large squid suspended itself motionless in the water about three feet away and peered at her closely, its eyes rolling, before it vanished into the black. A shimmering incandescence rippled along its body, almost as if it were communicating through its skin.

But the next night, things were different: A large squid surprised Magill by hitting her from behind and grabbing at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. The powerful creature ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light.

When Magill recovered, she didn't know which direction was up and at first couldn't find the hose to help her rise to the surface. The squid was gone.

"I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have," she said.

Doleful eyes, grabbing and pulling, if it really wanted to hurt her... That's one emotional squid! It is dangerous to ascribe human motivations to the actions of instinct-driven animals. Just ask the unfortunate friend of the monkey lady or that guy who got eaten by the bears he "befriended" up in Alaska.

Here's the YouTube video, Trouble in Paradise. Maybe they should ask Ariel to go get her dad King Neptune...



Breitbart