Stanford researchers have managed for the first time to get an idea of what life looks like from the point of view of the Humboldt squid. You can get a glimpse of things from a squid’s perspective in video below as Stanford professor William Gilly explains what National Geographic’s Critter Cam helped researchers learn about the animal by following it in it’s own habitat.
The research team used a child’s bathing suit to attach a camera to one of the animals. While this technique worked brilliantly for learning more about how the squids move and communicate with one another using their color changing chromatophore cells, the secondary purpose of the experiment — determining whether squid can experience embarrassment after being strapped into a child’s swimsuit — was sadly inconclusive. The swimsuit was necessary, however, to attach the camera to the squid’s soft, amorphous frame.
The camera captured images of the squid moving, shedding new light on the way the squid use their color changes for communication. Researchers learned that the animals only change color when they encounter another squid, flashing red and white. While it’s not yet undertstood exactly what the squid are saying to one another with these flashes, the fact that the color changes are accompanied by everything from squid fights to attempts to mate suggests that plenty is being communicated with these flashes — we just can’t translate it yet
(via Stanford University)
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