Giant squids on the Chilean coast

2004/03/26 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ingurumena

The southern coasts of Chile have been filled with giant squids in recent weeks. These animals normally live in the open ocean and leave at night to eat small fish. So far they have found a length of between 70 and 150 centimeters.

This event has been analyzed with the help of the satellite Envisat and have verified that the presence is related to changes in the mass of water off the coast. In this area, nutrient outcrops are common. Deep, nutrient-rich cold waters increase when the wind removes warm water from the surface, resulting in rich fishing complexes. However, in recent weeks this situation has not occurred, which has caused the water temperature in some areas to increase. In fact, squid has attracted large salinity and temperature gradients, since in these conditions they find food.

This sudden invasion has caused concern among fishermen in the area. Giant squids feed on fish of commercial interest and believe they can endanger their prey.