Two dead squid in two weeks: Coincidence?

Larry Schmidt poses next to Unalaska’s second squid visitor in as many weeks. (Courtesy Larry Schmidt)

The novelty of seeing a jumbo squid in Unalaska is not wearing off: a second one washed ashore Monday night.

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David Tonon of the U.S. Coast Guard was excited to check it out — he’s never seen anything like it.

“I’ve seen little squid, squid we use for bait, squid at aquariums, and when I was diving in the Caribbean,” Tonon said. “But nothing that big. The thing had to weigh 50 pounds or so, probably more.”

This squid has a couple feet on six-footer David Tonon. (Courtesy David Tonon)

This squid is bigger than the last one, which turned up on the beach on April 10. Tonon is six feet tall and estimates this squid is about 10 feet long.

At this point it is unclear if the two dead squids are an unrelated coincidence or if they’re a sign of something more significant.

Zoe Sobel is a reporter with Alaska's Energy Desk based in Unalaska. As a high schooler in Portland, Maine, Zoë Sobel got her first taste of public radio at NPR’s easternmost station. From there, she moved to Boston where she studied at Wellesley College and worked at WBUR, covering sports for Only A Game and the trial of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

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