Giant squid invade waters off San Diego

by Katie Hammel on

It sounds like the plot of campy 1970’s horror flick: aggressive giant squid sporting razor-sharp beaks and tentacles with teeth start showing up in the waters off the coast, attacking divers and grabbing their masks and hoses. But this is a real-life version of “It Came from the Deep”, and it’s happening in the waters near San Diego.

The creatures are called Humboldt squid, (though they’re also referred to as “red devils” for their color and hostile behavior) and can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh 100 pounds. They’re carnivorous and known for being particularly aggressive, especially when feeding. Scientists say they’ll even cannibalize other squid during a feeding frenzy. Though they’re native to Mexico, the squid have shown up in smaller numbers all along the west coast of the US. The last time such a large invasion occurred was in 2002, when 12 tons of dead squid eventually washed ashore near San Diego.

The squid generally stay a few hundred feet below the surface, but divers have reported seeing them at depths of 60-80 feet. Some divers have come across them without incident, but others have been bumped, pushed and pulled by antagonistic squid. Many divers are just choosing to steer clear of the squid, staying out of the water until the “carnivorous calamari” move on. Swimmers most likely won’t run into any of the squid, except for the few that wash up on the beach.

[via ABC News]

44 snakes and lizards almost smuggled on a plane

by Jamie Rhein on

Not that I’ve thought much about smuggling lizards and snakes on a plane, but reading about this Australian guy who was nabbed a couple days ago trying to smuggle 44 snakes and lizards from Australia to Bangkok got me thinking. Why 44?

Seems to me that’s overshooting one’s luck. Wouldn’t it have been better to stop at 10, perhaps? Not that I want to give anyone smuggling advice since I think animals and plants should be left where they’re found unless it’s legal to transport them and a person has a permit to do so, but I’m flummoxed that this guy thought he could get by with it.

Look at the X-ray. A snake looks like a snake in an X-ray, and a lizard looks like a lizard. Not long ago a woman was apprehended trying to smuggle three banana plants in her underwear. If that didn’t work, considering that plants are inanimate objects, it seems three black headed pythons might attract some attention.

Along with those three he had an Albino Carpet Python, 24 Shingleback Lizards and 16 Blue Tongue Lizards. He must not have seen Catherine’s post from 2007 when a snake smuggling culprit was caught in Cairo. Or maybe when he saw that the Cairo guy was trying to transport 700 snakes, 4 snakes and 44 reptiles didn’t seem like all that many.

For his efforts, he could spend 10 years in jail and be fined a hefty sum. [via Buzz Feed]

Against the law to be annoying in public

by Jamie Rhein on

In Brighton, Michigan an ordinace was recently adopted to make it illegal to be annoying in public either by “word of mouth, sign or motions.” That’s the only piece of information I read about the ordinance in a snipet of News of the Weird in the Dispatch. Such a slim missive has me wondering about what’s annoying exactly?

I would guess you couldn’t flip a person off or stick out your tongue at someone. Probably you can’t put your thumbs at the side of your head at temple height and wag your fingers while saying, “Na, naa, na, na, nuh.” That’s what came to mind first. Or, what about someone standing in the middle of a grocery aisle talking loudly on a cell phone? That’s kind of annoying. There are all sorts of items one might put on a laundry list of annoying behaviors. My personal favorite is when someone comes to an event that’s quiet and starts rustling a plastic bag–and rustling, and rustling and rustling it. Give the person a citation, I say.

Then I went snooping on the City of Brighton Web site to see what’s what. I discovered that Brighton is the fastest growing town in Livingston County which is the fastest growing county in Michigan. I thought perhaps that all the extra people were making Brighton citizens unnerved and easily annoyed. Nope, that wasn’t it.

As it turns out, the old ordinace wasn’t clear about teenage bullying, neighbors repeatedly vexing neighbors, repeated unwanted text messages, these sorts of things.

As a statement by the mayor clarifies, the following do not fit under the new ordinace:

  • “The screaming child in the grocery line
  • The spouse that leaves dirty socks on the floor
  • The person that fails to use the left turn signal
  • You get the picture. . .”

This photo was taken at a park in GwinnettCounty, Georgia by Barely Fitz. You can’t be annoying there either.

Airport workers push plane off of runway

by Jamie Rhein on

In a demonstration of physical prowess and the power of team work–slightly reminiscent of the Chinese display of can-do power at the Beijing Olympics, 30 airport workers pushed a CRG7 airplane off to a side lane at the Zhengzou Airport in China.

Whew! As one pusher said, “Thank God, it was only a 20 tonne medium-sized airplane. If it had been a big plane, it would have knocked us out.”

The reason for this particular great leap forward was because of the plane’s mechanical failure that began while it was landing. No one was hurt, but once on the ground, the plane was through working. It’s hydraulic system was toast. According to airport officials, a tow truck wouldn’t work without the hydraulic system. The plane is where the workers left it since technicians have yet to fix it.

How long does it take to move a medium-sized plane a little less than half a mile off a runway if you have 30 able-bodied people? About two hours.

According to the Ananova article, there were 69 passengers and 7 crew on board. I’m wondering why were they allowed to stay on the airplane?

Thanks to Gadling reader Bob for sending along the link to this story.

L.A. Hires Goats to Help with Development Project

by Josh Lew on

If you pay a visit to downtown Los Angeles in the near future, you might expect to see the usual assortment of tall buildings and expensive retail shops. But what about farm animals? No, there isn’t going to be a new zoo located in city’s main commercial center. And there are no movies being filmed that are set in a post-apocalyptic world where wildlife runs free through urban areas . City officials have merely hired a herd of goats to clear shrubs on a plot of land where a new skyscraper is slated to be built.

Apparently goats are cheaper than people when it comes to clearing growth from an area. No wages, no gas-powered weed whackers, no overtime pay, no unions…what’s not to like? The goats have even become a bit of an attraction, with locals stopping by to look and snap photos. It should take about a week for the animals to eat their way through the lot’s undergrowth. I wonder if they’ll have to hire people to clean up all the goat poop before the construction crews move in. See a BBC report about the goats here.