I’ve been thinking about octopuses these days—not octopi, for reasons explained here—and found this disconcerting bit of information on Wikipedia:

Some cephalopods are able to fly distances up to 50 m. While the organisms are not particularly aerodynamic, they achieve these rather impressive ranges by use of jet-propulsion; water continues to be expelled from the funnel while the organism is in flight.

The reference for this troubling “fact”—a fucking octopus can fucking fly? and wrap its wicked suckers around your fucking face? and chew off your fucking nose?—is the academic abstract to a journal article that I, a mere dumb-ass, an-academic, am not allowed to read without paying for the privilege.

Can anybody out there in Slogland get me a copy of this article? Or any other scientific evidence—or even pseudo-scientific evidence—that this crab be your nose?

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

20 replies on “A Question for Science”

  3. Cephalopods can swim, jet, ‘fly’, or walk… ‘Flying’, more properly gliding, is limited to a few oceanic squids, such as Ommastrephes, Onychoteuthis, and Dosidicus, which can accelerate out of the water and apparently travel for distances of up to 50 m (Lane, 1957; Cole & Gilbert, 1970; Packard, 1972).

    — Cephalopod Behaviour, by Roger T. Hanlon, J. B. Messenger

  10. An earlier paper in Natureby the same author, “Jet propulsion and the giant fibre response of Loligo” is pretty interesting but doesn’t say anything specifically about propulsion out of the water into the air.

    I should really be working.

  12. Here’s teh salient part:
    (iii) Flight. A number of the oceanic squids (particularly ommastrephids and
    Onychoteuthis) take to the air when being chased, and have been likened to flying fish.
    Probably the distance covered in the air is never great, although some of the smaller
    squids that fly in shoals have been estimated to cover horizontal distances of over
    50 m. (Lane, 1957). The design of these squids, with fins and coriaceous arm mem-
    branes at opposite ends of the fuselage, is aerodynamically acceptable – although now
    looking unorthodox it is the way some of the earliest aircraft were designed – and confers
    great stability but low manoeuvrability. But the lifting surfaces are surprisingly small
    compared with the ‘wings’ of a flying fish of the same body length (Fig. 9c). The
    explanation appears to be that the main lift comes from continued expulsion of water
    from the funnel after take-off rather than from the aerofoil surfaces. Cole & Gilbert
    (1970) have recently published a film record of a Chilean giant squid, Dosidicus, that
    accelerated in air to a momentary maximum velocity calculated as 14 knots before
    dropping back into the water. Their conclusion that water is being ejected during the
    acceleration is born out by the eye witness accounts reported in Lane (1957). These
    squids provide the only instance of rocket- or jet-propelled flight by an animal other
    than man.

  13. Only squid use jet propulsion of this sort. And, for what it’s worth, while they can strike “beak-first” they typically only cover long distances on jet propulsion with their beak-y ends facing backwards. My understanding is that they use it to travel (migrate) and run away, not to hunt.

  14. Brendan — flying cephalopods are nothing. Look up Humboldt Squid. If you dare. AND they’ve been seen in the waters off Washington. Now see if you can sleep at night.

  16. Goddam. Octopuses are damned smart and incredible creatures.

    Stop eating them, y’all. They’re smarter than most of you.

  17. @Posted by kresblamania on July 1, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    unfortunately it’s unlikely that the sea pub lib has access to this article in any form (print or electronic)

  19. as an ex-research scientist, it really bothers me that i can no longer access most scientific journal articles (for free, natch). the open sharing of knowledge is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the scientific method.i know there isn’t a huge general audience for primary lit, but still…

    but, yeah, cephalopods are my favorite invertebrates. totally. the flying is cool, but their skin is the best.

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