SEKIU — Experts are puzzled by the sudden arrival of big squid — lots of them — showing up on anglers’ hooks and the shoreline around Clallam Bay and Sekiu.
Most of these squid are between 10 and 30 pounds, said Val Olson, owner of Olson’s Resort, 444 Front St., Sekiu.
Tasha Dawley, a manager at Olson’s Resort, said one of these Humboldt squid measured 9 ½ feet long, and another weighed 54 pounds.
“Every customer that came in yesterday asked me what all the squid were doing here,” Dawley said.
“I’ve had one tell me, ‘I bet there’s three miles of nothing but squid.'”
Out of nowhere
The squid — not a common occurrence in the Strait of Juan de Fuca — appeared out of nowhere on Monday afternoon, and became more concentrated on Monday night, Dawley said.
Anglers are allowed to keep five squid. Some are using them as bait for halibut or crab, Olson said.
Others, if not most, are keeping the squid to try to make their own calamari, Dawley said.
Rich Childers, Puget Sound shellfish manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said its unknown why squid are showing up around Clallam Bay.
No where else
“We really don’t know,” Childers said.
They seem to be concentrated about 20 miles east of the entrance to the Strait.
Dawley and Childers both said there were no reports of squid showing up any other place.
“It’s nothing alarming,” Childers said.
“These events, they happen periodically up and down the coast. Things like jellyfish and squid, they tend to get into the currents. It tends to go almost unnoticed.”
The difference in this case is the size of the squid, which typically live in deep water, Childers said.
Olson said she’s seen squid before, but they are usually far fewer and much smaller than this year’s mysterious crop.
“Nothing like this,” Olson said.
Unusual to see
Dawley said it’s unusual to see squid in the Strait, let alone in the numbers that have been appearing recently.
“I’ve only seen one, and that was about 10 years ago,” she said.
But now, Dawley said people are “catching them by the thousands.”
When reached for an update on Tuesday evening, Dawley said reports of squid were still streaming in.
Childers said the squid may have been trapped by currents or moved to Clallam Bay because of changes in the water temperature.
He recalled a large number of squid that washed up on the beach when he was living in Northern California.
“It’s uncommon, but it’s not unheard of,” Childers said. “It just happens periodically.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
