Dancing with Demons
Posted By Scott Cassell on 15 December 2005
Scar is over seven feet in length, larger than anyone has ever proven. His body was 3 feet thick (He’s too big to put my arms around him) and I estimated he weight between 230 to 250 pounds. He could easily kill me if he grabbed me and just started a series of exploratory bites to find my weakness, but he doesn’t. To my surprise, he doesn’t leave either. He swims slowly around me in a circle, keeping close enough to touch during the entire circumference. Although his closeness was a bit unnerving, I find him fascinating. For the first time, a giant Humboldt squid paused to explore me instead of try to feed on me, then leave. I reach out my hand to him and I could see his huge eye focus on it. He stops and slowly turns toward my hand and eases closer to it. He began color flashing, which was the most intense and dramatic I have ever seen. His color patterns move from tail to arm tips with waves of red and white resembling ripples from a pebble dropped into water. He reached out his right outer arm to touch my hand. Inches away, we both paused, staring at each other. “What will the other do?” We both seem to be testing the other.
THE FINE LINE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL
During a recent National Geographic expedition, a well-known scientist wrote that since he snorkeled with these squid once and wasn’t attacked or injured he proclaimed that their reputation as man-eaters was untrue. What he didn’t mention from this limited experience was that the animals he observed in situ were only three and four footers and that they were passing by, and not in their classic feeding mode. Mind you, I am not discounting his scientific observations or his experience. My point is much simpler that that. After all, animals this size are still prey for elephant seals. For example, if you hear legends that lions have occasionally killed and fed on humans; expose your test to adult lions. I have yet to hear of anyone killed and eaten by a lion cub.
In August of 2003, a huge English production company hired me to help them film Humboldt squid. The producer decided to follow the direction of an English female sport diver/ co-presenter rather than me since after all, she was the co-producer. During one dive at night, this woman told her producer to jig and slaughtered over thirty of these magnificent and intelligent creatures in a futile attempt to get the squid to enter into a cannibalistic feeding frenzy for their cameraman. I was horrified at the murders and all I could do is witness the rain of body parts drift by me underwater only to disappear into the dark sea. To make the event worse, when I was on deck later, the producer cut the eyes out of a still living squid and placed them in a dive mask, which was placed on his face… for a prize photo. My complaints got me thrown off the boat. A wave of nausea passes over me when I realize they were there filming for thirty days and I cant help but feel sick at the idea of how many animals they killed to make their documentary. Arrogance, ignorance and ego. A destructive yet all-too-common combination.
When this English production company has the audacity to claim they “harmed no animals in the production of this documentary” I somehow doubt that was accurate, to put it lightly.
THE DANCE
My hand is outstretched to a true Diablo Rojo. My heart is pounding. Had this giant ever seen man before? What does he want to know? Why isn’t he attacking me repeatedly like others before him? For twelve incredible minutes we circle, reach out, withdraw, touch, and test each other. His color flashes are never the same twice and he shows no fear of me. By this time I am being surrounded by up to 100 very large Humboldt squid, but they all stay away. Scar seems interested in my camera housing so I show it to him. He comes up and spread his arms completely over it and bites the lens, making for a nice shot of his beak and radula (a spike covered tongue) in action. Scar is so huge his arms engulfs the entire camera housing and reaches beyond it to lays upon my hands, forearms, and head. Scar tenses his whole body instantly as he detects the difference between the housing and me. A second later he withdraws and stops cold. His eye stares at my forearm and camera housing as if he realizes the difference for the first time. He flashes a unique pattern I have come to know. He flushes deep red then blanched bright white and stays that way for several seconds. The blanched white pattern has preceded many a retreat after attacks on me. What does this revelation mean to Scar? Whatever the reason for his blanched white reaction, his behavior changed. He begins a more purposeful series of circling and touching. Touching my arms, CCR cover, legs, fins (which he bites) and finally, my face.
It occurs to me that this might well be the first encounter of its kind for both species. I can only describe it as a dance. A dance of peace, curiosity and discovery.
Scar and I have just completed a dance of such beauty that my words fall far short of explaining it. Two intelligent beings from entirely different worlds, separated by extremes of morphology, behavior, space and time.
THE FINE LINE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL
Suddenly Scars behavior changes again. His color pattern changes to a fixed white ventral and dark dorsal with the occasional ‘flicker’ across the top of his head and he stops circling me. He hovers just feet away and his eyes begin to search our surroundings. He points his massive body away from me and downward. He looks at me one last time and with a blast of his siphon funnel, he jets into the depths with a startling acceleration rate. His massive size glides almost effortlessly in a half spiral, his huge black eyes fixed in a backward scan. As Scar departs into the depths, I realize how privileged I was to have been a part of this dance. I wonder what incredible creatures and events those eyes see everyday. What images he might see today? Prey fish, maybe an even bigger squid, killer whales, and sperm whales. Perhaps species unseen by man. Then it hit me. This magnificent animal is prey to the great whales, as well as man.
A sudden concern fills me as I remember the bubble trail. I remember the year earlier watching hundreds of these animals beaching themselves in a crazed effort to avoid two pilot whales on the hunt. These magnificent squid balance a fine line between heaven and hell.
I stare at where Scar faded into time and space and thought; “God speed Scar. Thank you and good luck my new friend.”
A PRICE EXACTED
My mind was with Scar when I notice something moving in my peripheral vision. Just then, BAM! I get slammed by a six foot squid on my chest under my arm and feel another envelop my wrist and begin to bite me. As I begin to fight them off my chest and arm, another one grabs my fin and tugged me hard. The instant I “encourage” one animal to release me (with a hit with my camera housing), another moves in and attacks. My peaceful dive is turning into a barroom brawl. The lights mounted to my camera platform violently shake and flail without direction, creating a chaotic strobe effect adding to the intensity of the events. Dozens of attacks follow, each making the tell tale sounds of impact and chitenous ring teeth “scratching” on my armor and camera housing all recorded by my camcorder. My strength starts to fade and the aggression increases by the second. These guys are very big, so I decide to end the dive.
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