HAPPY #cephalopodweek!
Imagine how many of these Colossal Squid versus Sperm Whale battles take place every year. Take a guess–a dozen, two dozen? I think you will be just as surprised by the answer as was I.
The answer is here after the page break.
You never know what you are going to learn listening to the weekly NPR broadcast of “Science Friday!”
“If the estimated 360,000 sperm whales remaining in the world’s oceans eat one giant squid per month, then the giant squid population consumed must be over 4.3 million individuals per year. If the number is one per week, then the consumed population would be over 18.7 million individuals consumed per year. Estimates based on actual samples taken from sperm whale stomachs are much larger still. Clarke (1980) suggested that approximately 1% of the 700–800 squids a female sperm whale eats each day and the 300–400 squids a male eats each day are Architeuthis specimens. If true, that yields the astonishing number of over 3.6 million giant squids consumed per day, and a yearly total over 131 million giant squids.
From “Whales and Squids: Three Million Battles a Day,” by Dana Staaf, Science 2.0
Learn more about the fascinating world of Cephalopods and #cephalopodweek at the Science Friday website here.
Photo by Mike Goren, image from Wikipedia.
THE SQUID VERSUS WHALE DIORAMA AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
Good Morning Gloucester 