Why Divers Fear This Squid More Than Great White Sharks!

Great white sharks have killed divers. Humboldt squid, as far as we could find, have not. So why do so many divers fear the squid more? In July 2009, a diver at La Jolla Shores, San Diego, was struck from behind at night. Her arms were grabbed, her buoyancy hose torn, her light knocked away. The animal was lighter than she was. This film follows that night into the biology of the Humboldt squid: groups of more than a thousand animals, hooked suckers, cannibalism, and a language of red and white flashes that scientists still cannot read. Sources Lippmann J. (2018). Fatal shark attacks on divers in Australia, 1960–2017. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine 48(4). International Shark Attack File — 2025 worldwide summary, Florida Museum of Natural History. Zeidberg L.D. & Robison B.H. (2007). Invasive range expansion by the Humboldt squid in the eastern North Pacific. PNAS. Rosen H. et al. (2015). Chromogenic behaviors of the Humboldt squid studied in situ with an animal-borne video package. Journal of Experimental Biology 218. Burford B.P. & Robison B.H. (2020). Bioluminescent backlighting illuminates the complex visual signals of a social squid in the deep sea. PNAS. Animal Diversity Web — Dosidicus gigas. KPBS (2009). Jumbo Squid Invade San Diego Shores. Outside Magazine (2006). Beware the Humboldt Squid. #HumboldtSquid #GreatWhiteShark #OceanDocumentary