The Viral Giant Squid Video: A Natural Phenomenon or an Environmental Warning?

Earlier this week, a video of a giant squid being caught garnered over six million views on X Platform (formerly Twitter). The video, accompanied by claims that it's an ominous sign of environmental change, went viral.

Social Media Claim

A user on X posted a video of a fishing boat trying to catch a giant squid. The caption translates, "Seeing a squid this big is exciting. But many people don't know, it's actually a warning. These creatures live in deep water. If they come up for food, it means they don't have enough food down there. This shows that the environment is changing."

Source | Archive

Recently, the post has been shared over thirty thousand times and viewed more than six million times.

Fact Check

What type of giant squid is in the video: The giant squid featured in the video is a "Humboldt squid". Its scientific name is Dosidicus gigas, also known as the Jumbo squid. This is one of the largest predatory squid species and originates from the warm waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean. In recent years, the Humboldt squid population has grown rapidly, extending its range as far north as Alaska.

Habitat and Behavior of the Humboldt Squid: The Humboldt squid inhabits ocean depths of 200 to 700 meters. Notably, these squids ascend to shallower waters at night to hunt. They can either hunt individually or in groups, sometimes numbering in the thousands. In such large gatherings, they tend to pursue bigger prey and consume them more quickly than smaller ones. Their diet primarily includes small fish, shellfish, other squids, and copepods.

Humboldt Squid and Changing Environment: While surfacing to feed in shallow water is typical behavior for this squid, the Humboldt squid is grappling with environmental changes. This is largely due to climate change caused by global warming, which is expanding low oxygen zones in the ocean and gradually diminishing their habitat. Despite this, their food supply hasn't significantly decreased. In fact, some studies suggest that Humboldt squid are reproducing more successfully amidst these changes.

The Humboldt squid is a significant part of the seafood industry due to its large numbers and size. Its meat, notable for its relatively chewy texture, is widely distributed in Asia, making it affordable and commonly available in most restaurants. Globally, they are the most important squid for commercial fisheries, with the catch predominantly landed in Chile, Peru, and Mexico. There are large commercial fisheries for Humboldt squid in Mexico and Peru, and a sport fishery has developed in California. They are popular around South America and the west coast of the United States, mainly caught to serve the European, Russian, and Asian markets. Thus, the Humboldt squid is a hot commodity in the fishing market, both as a commercial entity and as a food source.

Summary

Although Humboldt squid live in very deep water, they can normally be found in shallow areas. This is not related to changes in environmental conditions. However, even though changes in the environment may reduce the habitat of the Humboldt squid, it also contributes to the increased propagation of this squid species.

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/climate-change-squeezes-jumbo-squid-out-of-oxygen