Heather Judkins of USF on Deepwater Squid in the Gulf of Mexico

We caught up with Dr Heather Judkins of USF at GOMRI 2016 in Tampa, Fl. Dr Judkins taught us about DEEPEND and USF's recent work documenting the 138 species in the Gulf using nets that search the water more than 4500 feet below the surface. There are many squid that stay at certain depths, and some that migrate up and down in the water depending on the time of day. Usually solitary, deepsea squid are major 'energy highways' that play an important ecological role by integrating the food web--Squid comb the waters for many kinds of food--from small organisms up to organisms their size, and in turn, are eaten by large mammals of the Gulf like Dolphins and Whales.

"There are thousands and thousands of beaks in one part of a sperm whale's stomach."

Dr Judkins was kind enough to offer her strategy on how to uncover what role squid are playing in a 4000 square kilometer area off the Mississippi Canyon where sperm whales have not been feeding.

http://www.usfsp.edu/blog/tag/heather-judkins/