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Scoop.it!
Did the octopus evolve its unique intelligence by playing fast and free with the genetic code? Elizabeth Finkel investigates. 
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Scoop.it!
From
qz
If you weren't amazed by octopuses before, you will be now. These tentacled cephalopods have always been somewhat mysterious to marine biologists, largely due to the logistical challenge of studying solitary creatures capable of blending in with their surroundings in the depths of the sea. We've marveled at their behavior in the past—like whe
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Interesting proposition, but there is much that is left out of they work. This seems to smack of an incomplete understanding of "evolution" per se. And the ability to "rapidly edit" code doesn't necessarily translate into rapid change or adaptability necessarily.
Scoop.it!
Of the four main commercial squids — jumbo squid, Japanese flying squid, Argentine short-fin squid and California market squid — catches of the last two species are down significantly as a severe El Nino disrupts normal fishing patterns.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
El Nino always tanks our squid fishery, but this has been somewhat ameliorated by Humboldt squid who have established year-round populations in California thanks to warming oceans.
Scoop.it!
This story was originally published in Edible Manhattan. On a frigid morning in February, the Jason-Danielle, a 90-foot trawler, leaves Montauk and
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Squid is a great food. Here in California, though, the issue is the processing (almost all of which is done in China). While the trophic impact of our west coast squid (market, Humboldt, etc.) is a better alternative to most predatory fish, the energetic/carbon foot print ("fin print") is pretty bad thanks to that double trip around the Pacific for processing.
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Scoop.it!
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Scoop.it!
I have been at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History since 1966, studying and reporting on all kinds of octopuses and squids. But I’ve always had a particular fascination with the mysterious and elusive giant squid. My interest in giant squid began in graduate school when my professor showed me two small, incomplete, stinky specimens—some of the few specimens in the world at that time.
Scoop.it!
3-Minute Market Insight: Pacific Loligo Squid have been dramatically impacted by the warm water effects of El Nino. The Loligo fishery started strong, but as...
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Dem squid be moving around.
Leave it to the market guys to describe this as an "opportunity" for other regions.
Scoop.it!
File this one in "we've lost our ability to detect baloney" file. By the end of the day today, links and excerpts referencing this article were being widely circulated via social media. Apparently we have lots of gullable folks out there. The article was a satirical piece (follow-up to an earlier fictional story item about a giant oarfish supposedly discovered off the California coast: http://www.lightlybraisedturnip.com/giant-fish-found-in-california/) spoofing recent alarmist reports about dangerous radioactivity reaching the U.S. from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The awesomly doctored photo was an altered version of a picture depicting a dead whale found in Chile back in 2011 (http://www.4thmedia.org/2011/11/04/whale-found-dead-in-chile/).
PIRatE Lab's insight:
I love me some cryptozology as much as the next marine biologist. But having just drive one of my PCH transects through Malibu, I must report no such massive cephalopods in the greater Santa Monica Bay area.
But I love the picture!
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