When squids attack

 

 

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The world's media explored every aspect of New Zealand's giant squid defrosting, and some of these angles are quite enlightening or amusing.

First up, Salon draws a vital distinction between a giant squid and a collosal squid. Then there was the famous calamari tasting (that's a Stuff link so it will probably break in about five minutes).

but my favourite squid story, and intro, wasn't from NZ at all, but from those competitive Canadians trying to cash in on our fame.

Nightmarish packs of rapacious giant devil squid are hunting off the B.C. coast -- and as their numbers increase, scientists are worrying about an attack on fish stocks.

Humboldt squid, called diablos rojos or red devils in Mexico, have been known to attack scuba divers, and were once a rarity in B.C. waters. But a changing ocean environment has brought them northward, and they may now be permanently establishing themselves off the B.C. coast.

Meanwhile, proving that science reporting is full of traps for the unwary or credulous, the "Pixie dust" story is debunked. Who carried it? The Times, The UK Telegraph, Australian ABC, BBC, News.com.au and, more fogiveably, The Sun - among others.

In other news:
Secrets of the Platypus revealed

New ideas in mortuary science

And our own PGG Wrightson is growing burpless gas - presumably it's fartless too, they're just too polite to say.