MuckFlash

Monterey, CA -18 June 2009- Oceanographer Tony Bonnatra has led the Cephalopod (squids, octopi and other mollusks) research team at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the last 20 years, and he typically relies on mother nature to keep his tanks in order. However, when he noticed an abnormally energetic relationship between two giant squids in his main tank, he decided to take sudden and dramatic action.

When Sophie, a 3 meter long Architeuthis dux (also known as “giant squid”) specimen was transferred from Vallejo’s Sea World mollusk exhibit, Archie, a 2 meter long male, took a pointed interest in her. Before long, Archie and Sophie were inseparable, spending nearly all of their waking time together. Though Bonnatra’s staff was pleased to see the budding love affair, before long Sophie and Archie began to isolate themselves from their own school and cause emotional distress throughout the tank.

“Typically dolphins are the only marine animals that copulate for their own amusement, ” said Dr. Bonnatra, “So when I saw the squids engaging in intense sexual activity for hours at a time, I felt that I had to correct the aberrant beahvior.” Dr. Bonnatra insists that the squids were spending so much time mating that they were neglecting to eat, rest and socialize with the rest of their school.

Indeed, Bonnatra noticed that as Sophie and Archie’s relationship with the rest of the school became more strained, fights were beginning to occur more frequently and many squids in the school started to refuse food. Though Bonnatra was convinced that the two had to be separated, Arch and Sophie would cling to each other desperately in a tangle of tentacles whenever anybody tried to separate them. “It was impossible and frustrating,” said Bonnatra. “Every day things only got worse.”

In numerous field studies of squid social behavior, researchers have agreed that isolated squid individuals can cause damaging discord within the larger group and reduce individual and group life expectancy. Shirly Tighman, professor of Marine Biology at Tufts University, underlined these risks. “Squid are very social creatures, and to have a pair separate themselves almost completely from the community can be devastating,” she said. “It would be as if you mother and father were too busy having sex to take you to movie. How awful would that be?”

After a series of failed attempts, with tempers flaring more and more often in the squid tank, Bonnatra finally introduced a radical solution. Building on squid’s natural affinity for Latin music, Bonnatra used a Ricky Martin CD to attract the pair to a shallow corner of the tank, where they began to swim in unison. While the melody distracted the lovers into separate orbits, Bonnatra used a suction hose to trap Sophie and remove her from the tank.

Bonnatra says that while he regrets the suffering of the individual squids, the good of the school was worth the sacrifice. “You could tell that both specimens were extremely depressed after separation,” said Bonnatara, “Although I will say that the collective mood of the school has really improved.”