How Do Whales Attack Squid?
LiveScience reports on new research by Dr Roger Hanlon which suggests that squid are oblivious to the ultrasonics of whales. It was theorized that whales might use ultrasonic blasts to stun their prey. Instead, it may be that whales capture thier prey by creating a super suction by flexing their bodies.
The researchers played recorded ultrasound whale clicks to several long-finned squid (Loligo pealeii) swimming in a water tank.
The ultrasound clicks were broadcast at up to 226 decibels, which is about the most intense whale echolocation click a squid would be exposed to in the wild. If the clicks were at a frequency humans could hear, they would be as loud as a rifle shot heard from three feet in front of the muzzle.
But not only were the squid not knocked senseless, they did not react at all to the ultrasound bursts, and actually swam in front of the speaker as if nothing were happening.
Hanlon is also the scientist who filmed the disappearing octopus video.
- LiveScience: How Whales Attack Squid: Mystery Deepens
- Laboratory of Roger Hanlon
- Biology Letters: Intense ultrasonic clicks from echolocating toothed whales do not elicit anti-predator responses or debilitate the squid Loligo pealeii
Tags: cephalopods, invertebrates, Marine Biology, marine mammals
June 30th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
So is there observational/video evidence for the suction hypothesis? Also, do squid, in general, seem to be attracted to sound? I know they can be attracted other things, like light.