Giggi
Well-Known Member
So I was doing a little research on marine animal hydrodynamics today, and I stumbled upon this image:
Excuse me, what?
So I googled "flying squid" and found a grand total of about 20 photographs of these things, most of which appear slightly less than realistic...
Naturally, I couldn't resist doing some digging to find out exactly what kind of bull***t was going on here.
The story:
There is a species of squid, nearly unknown to science, that is fully capable of controlled, powered flight. Using a jet of water from its siphon as propulsion, it can fly for distances of about 30 meters at speeds of up to 11 m/s, probably for the purpose of escaping predators or conserving energy while traveling long distances. The individuals are about three inches long and they live somewhere near Japan... or Jamaica... or Brazil.
I was rather skeptical, due to a number of reasons. Firstly, aside from the suspiciously few photos, 100% of the evidence for the existence of these squids is anecdotal. Nearly all the information on them is found on news sites, most of which are not scientifically-oriented. Secondly, the species the squids are identified as varies - it's either the neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii, or the Japanese flying squid, Todarodes pacificus. The disagreement on the species is bad enough, but in addition, bartramii looks like this:
View attachment 56358
And pacificus looks like this:
View attachment 56355
(Note the distinct lack of any resemblance to the "flying squids" above)
At this point, I'm 90% certain that the whole concept is bologna just like the "Pacific Northwest tree octopus", but then I run across this particular image:
From this completely reputable, bologna-free website: http://pelagicodyssey.ca/page14/page22/
...
Plus this: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-013-2169-9
...
Plus numerous reports from fishermen of squids jumping huge distances out of the water and sometimes into their boats
...
...
So now I'm totally psyched that flying squids exist.
Regarding the inconsistencies, my theory is that perhaps the juveniles of several different species can fly but not the adults.
Wow. :shock:
So how is this relevant to homebuilt airplanes?
I dunno. I just thought it was cool that there's a flying animal with tandem wing configuration.
Excuse me, what?
So I googled "flying squid" and found a grand total of about 20 photographs of these things, most of which appear slightly less than realistic...
Naturally, I couldn't resist doing some digging to find out exactly what kind of bull***t was going on here.
The story:
There is a species of squid, nearly unknown to science, that is fully capable of controlled, powered flight. Using a jet of water from its siphon as propulsion, it can fly for distances of about 30 meters at speeds of up to 11 m/s, probably for the purpose of escaping predators or conserving energy while traveling long distances. The individuals are about three inches long and they live somewhere near Japan... or Jamaica... or Brazil.
I was rather skeptical, due to a number of reasons. Firstly, aside from the suspiciously few photos, 100% of the evidence for the existence of these squids is anecdotal. Nearly all the information on them is found on news sites, most of which are not scientifically-oriented. Secondly, the species the squids are identified as varies - it's either the neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii, or the Japanese flying squid, Todarodes pacificus. The disagreement on the species is bad enough, but in addition, bartramii looks like this:
View attachment 56358
And pacificus looks like this:
View attachment 56355
(Note the distinct lack of any resemblance to the "flying squids" above)
At this point, I'm 90% certain that the whole concept is bologna just like the "Pacific Northwest tree octopus", but then I run across this particular image:
From this completely reputable, bologna-free website: http://pelagicodyssey.ca/page14/page22/
...
Plus this: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-013-2169-9
...
Plus numerous reports from fishermen of squids jumping huge distances out of the water and sometimes into their boats
...
...
So now I'm totally psyched that flying squids exist.
Regarding the inconsistencies, my theory is that perhaps the juveniles of several different species can fly but not the adults.
Wow. :shock:
So how is this relevant to homebuilt airplanes?
I dunno. I just thought it was cool that there's a flying animal with tandem wing configuration.
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