Jumbo squid move north

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SITKA, Alaska (AP) -- A large Humboldt squid caught offshore near Sitka is among numerous sightings of a species seen for the first time in waters of the far north, and the first of the species recovered from British Columbia waters.

The 5-foot Dosidicus gigas, or jumbo flying squid, was shipped last week to California to be kept for research at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

The squid was one of several caught by fisherman Alan Otness and his crew on Sept. 18. Eric Hochberg, curator of the Santa Barbara museum, said the species usually is found off Baja California and farther south.

The farthest north the species has been reported until this year was off the coast of Oregon in 1997, said James A. Cosgrove of the Royal British Columbia Museum. Before then, the farthest north it was seen was near San Francisco, he said.

"It's unprecedented," he said. "It speaks of a fundamental change in the ocean along the coast."

The museum is keeping a 6-foot, 44-pound Dosidicus gigas in a formaldehyde tank. The purple-bodied cephalopod was caught Oct. 2.