Jumbo squid head to Alaskan waters

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS

Jumbo flying squid caught offshore from Sitka, Alaska show this species is now moving into northern waters.

Several of the five-foot Dosidicus gigas, or jumbo flying squid, were caught with a dip net by a fishing crew on Sept. 18 as they baited longline gear at night.

The farthest north the species has been reported until this year was off the coast of Oregon in 1997.

But since July, there have been seven additional reports of sightings of jumbo squid in waters from Oregon to Alaska.

Scientists are now curious to see if the squid are moving north due to increasingly warmer waters in the offshore region.