Squid. Squid. Squid.

You little squid. You little squid.

A squid has ten arms.

A squid has ten arms.

A squid has ten legs.

And that was a Humboldt squid, a juvenile Humboldt squid, about three feet long.

Vibrio fischeri lives in this squid.

It could also be an unhappy squid.

So for the deep sea squid hunt,

But the black eyed squid takes the prize.

Come back here! Gotcha, Morph! That's it, you little squid.

It was Mike that got me invited to the squid summit, a gathering of squid experts at the Discovery Channel that summer during Shark Week.

Large catches of squid are a sign of a coming earthquake.

Now this guy, this bigfin squid, is seven meters in length.

In the next bit, we're going to see a couple squid.

So, imagine a great white shark and a giant squid in the same bathroom.

What was not mentioned in the Discovery documentary was that the bait squid that Dr. Kubodera used, a one meter long diamondback squid had a light attached to it, a squid jig of the type that longline fishermen use, and I think it was this light that brought the giant in.

This little squid is called the fire shooter because of its ability to do this.

I wonder what the person who cooked with squid ink for the first time was thinking?

Now, I'm told that's not not just a squid phenomenon with males, but I don't know.

There's jellyfish, there's squid, there's a whole lot of different crustaceans, there's even fish that can do this.

The reason the squid is willing to put up with these shenanigans is because it wants that light.

He can put a rubber glove on his head and run naked in the store yelling Hi, I'm a squid!

What the squid has developed is a shutter that can open and close over this specialized light organ housing the bacteria.

This is a squid, over six feet long, that is so new to science, it cannot be placed in any known scientific family.

Now the bacteria are dilute, that little hormone molecule is gone, so they're not making light but of course the squid doesn't care.

You hear about giant squid and things like that, but some of these animals get up to be approximately 140, 160 feet long.

For example, this shrimp releases its bioluminescent chemicals into the water just the way a squid or an octopus would release an ink cloud.

A lot of them can release their luciferin or luferase in the water just the way a squid or an octopus will release an ink cloud.

The way that this symbiosis works is that this little squid lives just off the coast of Hawaii, just in sort of shallow knee deep water.

And as the day goes by the bacteria double, they release the molecule, and then light comes on at night, exactly when the squid wants it.

I gave a talk on unobtrusive viewing and optical luring of deep sea squid in which I emphasized the importance of using quiet, unobtrusive platforms for exploration.

The squid is nocturnal, so during the day it buries itself in the sand and sleeps, but then at night it has to come out to hunt.

But then if you think about it, the squid has this terrible problem because it's got this dying, thick culture of bacteria and it can't sustain that.

On bright nights when there is lots of starlight or moonlight that light can penetrate the depth of the water the squid lives in, since it's just in those couple feet of water.

Now, here's a male on the left and a female on the right, and the male has managed to split his coloration so the female only always sees the kinder, gentler squid in him.

And it opens and closes the shutter so the amount of light coming out of the bottom which is made by the bacterium exactly matches how much light hits the squid's back, so the squid doesn't make a shadow.

Then he meets the yeti crab, the famous vampire squid elusive, hard to find and the Dumbo octopus, which looks so much like a cartoon in real life that really didn't have to change a thing when I drew it.

Mike deGruy was also invited, and he spoke with great passion about his love of the ocean, and he also talked to me about applying my approach to something he's been involved with for a very long time, which is the hunt for the giant squid.

And so what happens is every morning when the sun comes up the squid goes back to sleep, it buries itself in the sand, and it's got a pump that's attached to its circadian rhythm, and when the sun comes up it pumps out like 95 percent of the bacteria.

What you are looking at is the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid, and it's been turned on its back, and what I hope you can see are these two glowing lobes and these house the Vibrio fischeri cells, they live in there, at high cell number that molecule is there, and they're making light.

The reason that the electronic jellyfish worked as a lure is not because giant squid eat jellyfish, but it's because this jellyfish only resorts to producing this light when it's being chewed on by a predator and its only hope for escape may be to attract the attention of a larger predator that will attack its attacker and thereby afford it an opportunity for escape.