Unidentified squid caught by rod and reel off the beach.
Observation by Chickie Carlson:
A large squid was caught with a fishing pole off the beach today in Chignik Bay. First time ever a squid has been caught here.
Tom Okey with Ocean Integrity Research writes:
It's the general shape of a magistrate armhook squid. However, it could also be a Humboldt squid, which would be quite a sighting at the Aleutians.
Humboldt squid seem to be an indicator of climate related changes in the eastern Pacific, since they've been expanding north of their usual range. I'm guessing that catching one at the Aleutians would be the furthest north observation. Not positive, but it was big news when they started showing up off British Columbia a few years ago. That would be an important sighting--and newsworthy.
Comments from LEO Editors:
This observation has been forwarded to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and Alaska Pacific University.
There are at least 15 species of squid found in the Gulf of Alaska. All identified species, except for the North Pacific bobtail squid, are pelagic (inhabit the open ocean). However, two larger squid species, the magistrate armhook squid (Berryteuthis magister) and the boreopacific armhook squid (Gonatopsis borealis) are often found closer to the bottom.
Species abundance estimates, based on the NOAA trawl surveys, are more accurate for squid species living closer to the bottom than for the pelagic species. Accordingly, the magistrate armhook squid is the most abundant squid species found during the groundfish survey bottom trawls. During the 2017 trawl survey, the most squid were found around the Shelikof Sea Valley. Southwest of Shelikof Strait the Alaska Coastal Current splits, with one branch continuing to flow along the the Alaska Peninsula, past Chignik, and the other flowing south. Erica Lujan
Berryteuthis magister