Around the beginning of July intriguing cylindrical globs of goo started washing ashore. On closer inspection the finger-long structures were filled with round tapioca-sized lumps, which led me to believe they were a type of egg sac. A week later I started finding clear, long feather-like structures.
Turns out the California Market Squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) is the source for both of my mystery objects. If you like calamari, this is your squid! Let me clarify, the female of the species is responsible for what has been washing ashore in great numbers.
Both sexes congregate together in spawning grounds along the continental shelf from Alaska down to Baja. The day after an “extended mating embrace” the female begins excreting fertilized eggs into a protective capsule. She can produce around 20 capsules, each with about 100 eggs. The capsule is attached to other capsules with a sticky substance. Multiple females will attach their capsules together creating large communal masses (some covering acres) in the nearshore sand.
What a tremendous amount of work – produce 2000 eggs and attach them to others all while avoiding predation and fighting the motion of the ocean. No wonder this is her final act as an adult squid! Which serves to remind me yet again of an important nature lesson, having kids can kill you.
After death, her body is nibbled away by fish and other ocean predators. Often the only thing that washes ashore is the gladius. This stiff structure made of chitin is also commonly called a squid pen. I heard that historically the pens from larger species were used as writing instruments, much like quills, hence the name.
I wonder what will wash ashore next…
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