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| San Diego menaced by jumbo squid | San Diego menaced by jumbo squid |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Scuba divers off the Californian city of San Diego are being menaced by large numbers of jumbo squid. | Scuba divers off the Californian city of San Diego are being menaced by large numbers of jumbo squid. |
| The beaked Humboldt squid, which grow up to 5ft (1.5 metres) long, arrived off the city's shores last week. | The beaked Humboldt squid, which grow up to 5ft (1.5 metres) long, arrived off the city's shores last week. |
| Divers have reported unnerving encounters with the creatures, which are carnivorous and can be aggressive. | Divers have reported unnerving encounters with the creatures, which are carnivorous and can be aggressive. |
| One diver described how one of the rust-coloured creatures ripped the buoyancy aid and light from her chest, and grabbed her with its tentacles. | One diver described how one of the rust-coloured creatures ripped the buoyancy aid and light from her chest, and grabbed her with its tentacles. |
| "I just kicked like crazy," diver Shanda Magill told the Associated Press news agency. | "I just kicked like crazy," diver Shanda Magill told the Associated Press news agency. |
| "The first thing you think of is: 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this.' If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have." | "The first thing you think of is: 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this.' If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have." |
| Shanda Magill holds the buoyancy aid and light that the squid ripped from her | Shanda Magill holds the buoyancy aid and light that the squid ripped from her |
| The creatures - also known as jumbo flying squid - do not affect swimmers because they remain deeper in the water. | The creatures - also known as jumbo flying squid - do not affect swimmers because they remain deeper in the water. |
| But dozens have been washing up on beaches in the area. | But dozens have been washing up on beaches in the area. |
| "The ones that we are getting right now have a big beak on them, like a large parrot beak," San Diego's Union-Tribune quoted John Hyde of the National Marine Fisheries Service as saying earlier in the week. | "The ones that we are getting right now have a big beak on them, like a large parrot beak," San Diego's Union-Tribune quoted John Hyde of the National Marine Fisheries Service as saying earlier in the week. |
| "They could take a chunk of flesh off you." | "They could take a chunk of flesh off you." |
| 'Ram you' | 'Ram you' |
| Diver and amateur underwater cameraman Roger Uzun said he swam with a group of squid for about 20 minutes. | Diver and amateur underwater cameraman Roger Uzun said he swam with a group of squid for about 20 minutes. |
| They seemed curious about him, he said, and appeared to be touching him and his wetsuit with their tentacles to see if he was edible. | They seemed curious about him, he said, and appeared to be touching him and his wetsuit with their tentacles to see if he was edible. |
| "As soon as we went underwater and turned on the video lights, there they were. They would ram into you, they kept hitting the back of my head," he told AP. | "As soon as we went underwater and turned on the video lights, there they were. They would ram into you, they kept hitting the back of my head," he told AP. |
| It is not the first time the squid, which can weigh up to 45kg (7 stone), have taken up residence off California's coast. | It is not the first time the squid, which can weigh up to 45kg (7 stone), have taken up residence off California's coast. |
| In January 2005 hundreds of them washed up off the coast of Orange County, to the north, and in 2002 a similar invasion was reported near San Diego. | In January 2005 hundreds of them washed up off the coast of Orange County, to the north, and in 2002 a similar invasion was reported near San Diego. |
| Scientists say they do not know why the squid - which usually live in deep waters further south off Mexico and Central America - have come so close in. | |
| But one expert, Nigella Hillgarth of the San Diego-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told AP it was possible that the squid had established a year-round population off California. | But one expert, Nigella Hillgarth of the San Diego-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told AP it was possible that the squid had established a year-round population off California. |