Newbery High School, Newberyport, MA, March 2009. Photo by Greg Auger.
Pacific Grove Natural History Museum, Pacific Grove, CA, June 2009. Photo by Ashley Booth.
Camp Ocean Pines, Cambria, CA, February 2009. Photo by Laura Dickinson.
Hands-on activities bring students to the excitement of marine biology and the importance of good ocean stewardship. Humboldt squid provide an outstanding teaching platform for discussing climate change, ecology, anatomy, physiology, oceanography and fisheries science.
Currently, Humboldt squid support the largest invertebrate fishery in the world (nearly 1 million tons per year), and this predator has fascinating properties that allow it to succeed in a time of rapid climate change – extremely high reproductive potential and growth rate, flexible and opportunistic diet, capacity for fast long- distance migrations, and high tolerance of temperature and oxygen extremes. In the last 10 years these remarkable animals have spread from Monterey Bay, CA to Sitka, Alaska. At present they are suspected of interacting negatively with important commercial fish species, particularly hake in the Pacific Northwest. As they expand their range, they seem to be eating whatever they find in new waters.
Squids-4-Kids supplies frozen specimens of Humboldt squid for use in educational activities at any level. Our package includes illustrated background material and dissection guides. This outreach program is a collaboration between researchers at Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University and NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service in Santa Cruz, CA. There is no charge, but we require that recipients submit a request form and follow-up survey and accept responsibility for shipping costs. All Humboldt squid are collected in conjunction with ongoing research or by sport fishermen who donate their excess catch.
This project began with a weekend workshop in 2008 at Camp Ocean Pines, Cambria, CA, with teachers and museum/aquarium docents. Since then the Squids-4-Kids team has worked with schools around the country, beginning with Newburyport High School in Massachusetts. We have taken squid to numerous schools in central California. Each visit has been a resounding success.
