Friday Squid Blogging: Neon Flying Squid
Friday squid blogging post describes neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) gliding in formation 370 miles from Tokyo; off-topic for cyber/AI readers.
Researchers photographed a shoal of about 100 neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) gliding near a boat roughly 370 miles from Tokyo, reportedly the first photographs of the species gliding above water. The squid propel themselves using the hyponome, a funnel-like muscular organ that jets water. This is Schneier's recurring Friday squid blogging post.
Full article220 words · extracted from schneier.com · click to collapse
The neon flying squid can fly in formation.
The shoal of about 100 squid rose unexpectedly from a patch of the Pacific Ocean around 370 miles from Tokyo and glided near the boat for about 30 metres. The astonished researchers were the first to capture photographs of such a thing, which looked like the early stages of an alien invasion.
They were probably neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii), the subsequent study states, a species that is part of a 20-strong flying squid family that was known to leap from the water but, until then, was only rumoured to also be able to glide above it.
The neon flying squid was able to gain such elevation by using the hyponome, a funnel-like muscular organ also present in other cephalopods, such as octopuses. The organ is able to force water out in a jet, propelling the body along both in and out of the sea. Photographs of the gliding squid show them with their arms (they have 10 limbs in all) splayed outwards.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Tags: squid
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/08/friday-squid-blogging-neon-flying-squid.html