SQUID BODY FROM WHALE STOMACH (AZORES)
You’ve got to love the cephalophiles at tonmo.com and their unflappable enthusiasm for dredging up great squid facts and photos.
Check this out:
SQUID BODY FROM WHALE STOMACH (AZORES)
Giant squid, Arciteuthis sp. 34 feet (10.4m) taken from the stomach of a 46 foot (14m) sperm whale. The squid presents far less difficulty in being swallowed than the approx. 1.8m man would.
This photo is actually from this page of Whale Tales from the site Cool Antarctica. Also, while the tonmo cephalogeeks are obsessed with the correct identification of the squid species in the photo, it is interesting that they ignore the whole point of the squid-related part this article: looking at the question of whether a whale can swallow a whole human, based on the fact thay whales can swallow whole giant squid. Here is what it says:
Sperm whales can swallow large objects and there are accounts of them swallowing very large squid (their normal prey item), BUT squid are slippery, malleable and the length consists mainly of tentacles. Squid are often described in length for the extent of their tentacles (to appear more impressive), so a squid that is “25 feet long” (approx. 8m) can be considerably less wide across the widest part than a man across the shoulders. Swallowing a clothed man would need the widest part across the shoulders to go intact down the whale’s gullet and with the added friction of clothing as opposed to the squid being slippery and without a full skeleton so allowing it to readily be squashed thinner.
April 1st, 2005 at 1:19 pm
I resent the implication that obsessive cephalogeeks have ignored the anthropophagous potential of the sperm whale. I can assure you that we discuss it intensively during instant messaging sessions, and at dinner table. Though shy of a consensus, a plurality view is that a fully clothed man of average size, swimming at a depth of 600 meters, could quite easily be mistaken for a large teuthid, especially if that hypothetical man was scared and flapping around like a little girl.
It is interesting that you ignore the real question: what’s a good simile for a man sliding down a whale’s throat? An oyster? A goldfish? A thing you don’t want the cops to find on you?
There’s a rather mysterious new pic up on the Azores thread. Check it out, fellow cephalogeeks.
Yours truly,
Clem
April 4th, 2005 at 4:27 pm
No disrespect was intended Clem - it was just meant as bait. And I’m glad your dinner conversations extend into the realm of the morbidly macabre.
Thanks for the tip on new photos - definitely well worth a look: http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showpost.php?p=44857&postcount=11
April 5th, 2005 at 6:27 am
No disrespect was felt, Jeremy. We also talk about whether or not a giant squid could eat a person. (In theory, yes, but it would take a long time; the colossal squid is another matter.)