Who are the pros in this forum?

[mr robotto]

well i was surprised when i found out soy escuela was lemons and when i joined i didn't know che blanc was nicky t...

so who are all the pros on here? and what are there names?

o ya and bret little

[scottyb]

me

[TWG]

im a professional garage door installer...

[Gnarly Dancer 42]

me


i wish

[mr robotto]

ScottyB, byerly? i'm guessing unless you're pulling a joke like the other 2

[Evan71]

im danny hampson
















not

[provin1327]

I know arron reed is on here, I dont remember his name though.

[Michael Manzer]

Giant squid, once believed to be mythical creatures, are squid of the Architeuthidae family, represented by as many as eight species of the genus Architeuthis. They are deep-ocean dwelling animals that can grow to a tremendous size: recent estimates put the maximum size at 13 m (43 ft) for females and 10 m (33 ft) for males from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles (second only to the colossal squid at an estimated 14 m (46 ft), one of the largest living organisms). The mantle is only about 2 m (7 ft) in length (more for females, less for males), and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles is about 5 m (16 ft). There have been claims reported of specimens of up to 20 m (66 ft), but no animals of such size have been scientifically documented.
On September 30, 2004, researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan and the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association took the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat.[1] Several of the 556 photographs were released a year later. The same team successfully filmed a live giant squid for the first time on December 4, 2006.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Biology
1.1 Size
2 Species
3 Timeline
4 Giant squid in culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Biology



A piece of sperm whale skin with giant squid sucker scars.
Despite their great length, giant squid are not particularly heavy when compared to their chief predator, the sperm whale, because the majority of their length is taken up by their eight arms and two tentacles. The weights of recovered specimens have been measured in hundreds, rather than thousands, of kilograms. Post-larval juveniles have been discovered in surface waters off New Zealand, and there are plans to capture more such juveniles and maintain them in an aquarium in an attempt to learn more about the creature's biology and habits.
Little is known regarding the reproductive cycle of the giant squid, but what has been learned is that the male of the species has a prehensile spermatophore-depositing tube, or penis, of over 3 ft (90 cm) in length, which extends from inside the animal's mantle and apparently is used to inject sperm-containing packets into the female squid's arms — the means by which the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is a matter of much debate, but a recovery in Tasmania of a female specimen with a small subsidiary tendril attached to the base of each of its eight arms could be a vital clue to resolving the question. The giant squid lacks the hectocotylus used for reproduction in many other cephalopods.
Giant squid possess the largest eyes of any living creature—with the possible exception of those of the colossal squid—the eye being over 1 ft (30 cm) in diameter. The tentacles are equipped with hundreds of suction cups, each mounted on an individual "stalk" and equipped around its circumference with a ring of sharp teeth to aid the creature in capturing its prey by firmly attaching itself thereto by both suction and perforation. The size of the suction cups varies from 2 to 5 cm in diameter (1 to 2 in), and it is common to find their circular scars on the head area of sperm whales that have fed — or attempted to feed — upon giant squid. The only other known predator of the adult giant squid is the Pacific sleeper shark, found off Antarctica, but it is not yet known whether these sharks actively hunt the squid, or are simply scavengers of squid carcasses. Owing to the fact that sperm whales are skilled at locating giant squid, scientists have attempted to conduct in-depth observations of sperm whales in order to study squid.


Tentacular club of Architeuthis


The fabled underwater encounter between the sperm whale and giant squid, from a diorama at the American Museum of Natural History.
One of the more unusual aspects of giant squid (as well as some other species of large squid) is their reliance upon the low density of ammonia in relation to seawater to maintain neutral buoyancy in their natural environment, as they lack the gas-filled swim bladder that fish use for this function; instead, they use ammonia (in the form of ammonium chloride) in the fluid of their flesh throughout their bodies, making it taste not unlike salmiakki. This makes the giant squid unattractive for general human consumption, although sperm whales seem to be attracted by (or are at least tolerant of) its taste.
As with all cephalopods, giant squid have special organs called statocysts to sense their orientation and motion in the water. The age of a giant squid can be determined by "growth rings" in the statocyst's "statolith", analogous to determining the age of a tree by counting its rings. Much of what is known about giant squid is based upon estimates of the growth rings and from undigested beaks found in the stomachs of sperm whales.
[edit]Size
See also: Cephalopod size


The "nearly perfect specimen" that was beached alive in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, on September 24, 1877. This specimen measured 39.5 ft in total length, close to the maximum known size of giant squid.
Giant squid size, and particularly total length, has often been misreported and exaggerated. Reports of specimens reaching or even exceeding 18 m (59 ft) in length are widespread, but no animals approaching this size have been scientifically documented. According to giant squid expert Dr. Steve O'Shea, such lengths were likely achieved by great lengthening of the two long feeding tentacles, analogous to stretching elastic bands.[2]
Based on the examination of 105 specimens as well as beaks recovered from Sperm Whales, the giant squid is not known to attain a mantle length (ML) in excess of 2.25 m (7.4 ft).[2] Including the head and arms, but excluding the tentacles, Architeuthis very rarely exceeds 5 m (16 ft) in length.[2] Maximum total length, when measured relaxed post mortem, is estimated at 13 m (43 ft) for females and 10 m (33 ft) for males from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles.[2]
Giant squid exhibit sexual dimorphism. Maximum weight is estimated at 275 kg (606 lb) for females and 150 kg (331 lb) for males.[2]
[edit]Species



Worldwide giant squid distribution based on recovered specimens.


Giant squid, measuring 7 m, encased in a block of ice at the Melbourne Aquarium.


A giant squid's tentacles with a human hand for size comparison.
The taxonomy of the giant squid, as with many cephalopod genera, has not been entirely resolved. Lumpers and splitters may propose as many as eight species or as few as one. The broadest list is:
Architeuthis dux, "Atlantic Giant Squid"
Architeuthis hartingii
Architeuthis japonica
Architeuthis kirkii
Architeuthis martensi, "North Pacific Giant Squid"
Architeuthis physeteris
Architeuthis sanctipauli, "Southern Giant Squid"
Architeuthis stockii
It is probable that not all of these are distinct species. No genetic or physical basis for distinguishing between the named species has been proposed, as evidenced by the placenames — of location of specimen capture — used to describe several of them. The rarity of observations of specimens and the extreme difficulty of observing them alive, tracking their movements, or studying their mating habits militates against a complete understanding.
In the 1984 FAO Species Catalogue of the Cephalopods of the World, C.F.E. Roper, M.J. Sweeney and C.F. Nauen wrote:
"Many species have been named in the sole genus of the family Architeuthidae, but they are so inadequately described and poorly understood that the systematics of the group is thoroughly confused."
Kir Nazimovich Nesis (1982, 1987) considered that only three species were likely to be valid.
In 1991, Frederick Aldrich of the Memorial University of Newfoundland wrote:
"I reject the concept of 20 separate species, and until that issue is resolved, I choose to place them all in synonymy with Architeuthis dux Steenstrup."
In a letter to Richard Ellis dated June 18, 1996, Martina Roeleveld of the South African Museum wrote:
"So far, I have seen nothing to suggest that there might be more than one species of Architeuthis."
In Cephalopods: A World Guide (2000), Mark Norman writes the following:
"The number of species of giant squid is not known although the general consensus amongst researchers is that there are at least three species, one in the Atlantic Ocean (Architeuthis dux), one in the Southern Ocean (A. sanctipauli) and at least one in the northern Pacific Ocean (A. martensi)."
[edit]Timeline

Main article: List of giant squid specimens and sightings


Steenstrup suggested that 16th century illustrations of "sea monks" could be interpreted as giant squid
Tales of giant squid have been common among mariners since ancient times, and may have led to the Norwegian legend of the kraken, a tentacled sea monster as large as an island capable of engulfing and sinking any ship. Japetus Steenstrup, the describer of Architeuthis, suggested a giant squid was the species described as a sea monk to the Danish king Christian III c.1550. The Lusca of the Caribbean and Scylla in Greek mythology may also derive from giant squid sightings. Eyewitness accounts of other sea monsters like the sea serpent are also thought to be mistaken interpretations of giant squid.


The Alecton attempts to capture a giant squid in 1861
Steenstrup produced a number of papers on giant squid in the 1850s. He first used the term "Architeuthis" in a paper in 1857. A portion of a giant squid was secured by the French gunboat Alecton in 1861 leading to wider recognition of the species/genus in the scientific community. Between 1870 and 1880, large numbers of strandings occurred on the shores of Newfoundland. For example, a specimen washed ashore in Thimble Tickle Bay, Newfoundland on November 2, 1878 was 6.1 m (20 ft) long (mantle length), and one of its tentacles measured 10.7 m (35 ft) long and it was estimated as weighing 2.2 tonnes. In 1873 a squid "attacked" a minister and a young boy in a dory in Bell Island, Newfoundland.


Giant squid from Logy Bay, Newfoundland in Reverend Moses Harvey's bathtub, November/December, 1873
Large numbers of strandings also occurred in New Zealand during the late nineteenth century. Although strandings continue to occur sporadically throughout the world, the high frequency of strandings at Newfoundland and New Zealand in the late nineteenth century have not yet been repeated. It is not known exactly why giant squid become stranded on shore, but it is possible that a periodic though temporary alteration of the distribution of the deep, cold water where the squid live might be the cause. Many scientists who have studied squid mass strandings believe that they are cyclical and predictable, but the length of time between strandings is not yet known. A period of 90 years between mass strandings has been proposed by Frederick Aldrich, an Architeuthis specialist, who used this value to correctly predict a relatively small stranding that occurred between 1964 and 1966. By and large, however, squid strandings remain a yet unsolved problem.


Poster issued in 1988 by Frederick Aldrich of the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Rewards were offered for public cooperation in obtaining giant squid specimens.
The search for a live Architeuthis specimen includes attempts to find live young, including larvae. Larval Architeuthis closely resemble larvae of Nototodarus and Moroteuthis, with distinctive characteristics being the shape of the mantle attachment by the head, the tentacle suckers, and the beaks. Approximately 65 specimens, one-fifth of all the giant squid ever found, have been found in the waters off Newfoundland; the last in December 2004.
On September 30, 2004, Tsunemi Kubodera (National Science Museum of Japan) and Kyoichi Mori (Ogasawara Whale Watching Association) succeeded in taking history's first images of a live adult giant squid. Their teams had worked together for nearly two years to accomplish this. They used a five-ton fishing boat and only two crew members. The images were created on their third trip to a known Sperm Whale hunting ground 600 miles (970 km) south of Tokyo, where they had dropped a 3,000 ft (900 m) line baited with squid and shrimp. The line also held a camera and a flash. After over twenty tries that day, a 26-foot (8 m) giant squid attacked the lure and snagged its tentacle. It took the squid over four hours to break free, during which time the camera took over 500 photos. These were the first photographs ever captured of a live giant squid in its natural habitat. The squid left behind, attached to the lure, an 18-foot (5.5 m) tentacle. Later DNA tests confirmed the animal as a giant squid.
On September 27, 2005, Kubodera and Mori released the photos to the world. The photo sequence, taken at a depth of 900 m (nearly 3,000 ft) off Japan's Ogasawara Islands, shows the squid homing in on the baited line and enveloping it in "a ball of tentacles." The researchers were able to locate the likely general location of giant squid by closely tailing the movements of Sperm Whales. According to Kubodera, "we knew that they fed on the squid, and we knew when and how deep they dived, so we used them to lead us to the squid." Kubodera and Mori reported their observations in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.


One of the series of images of a live giant squid taken by Kubodera and Mori in 2004.
Among other things, the observations demonstrate actual hunting behaviors of adult Architeuthis, a subject on which there had been much speculation. The photographs showed an aggressive hunting pattern by the baited squid, leading to it impaling a tentacle on the bait ball's hooks. This may disprove the theory that the giant squid is a drifter which eats whatever floats by, rarely moving so as to conserve energy. It seems that the species has a much more belligerent feeding technique.
In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium in Australia paid AUD$100,000 for the intact body of a giant squid, preserved in a giant block of ice, which had been caught by fishermen off the coast of New Zealand's South Island earlier in the year. [2]


Still image from the first video of a live adult giant squid, filmed on December 4, 2006 by researchers from the National Science Museum of Japan led by Tsunemi Kubodera.
In early 2006, another giant squid, later named "Archie", was caught off the coast of the Falkland Islands by a trawler. It measured 8.62 m (28 ft) and was then sent to the Natural History Museum in London for study and preservation. It was put on display on March 1, 2006 at the Darwin Centre.[3][4] [5]Most giant squid specimens tend to be those that have washed up dead on beaches, or been retrieved from the stomach of dead sperm whales; they tend to be in quite poor condition. The find of such a large, complete specimen is extremely rare.
Giant squid researchers undertook a painstaking process to preserve the giant creature, which is now on show in a 9 m (30 ft) long glass tank. The first stage was to defrost it, after it spent the trip back to England on ice aboard the trawler. This thawing took about four days. The major difficulty was then the body of the animal — or the mantle. Thawing the thick mantle took much longer than the comparatively thin tentacles. To prevent the tentacles from rotting, scientists bathed the mantle in water, while covering the tentacles in ice packs, after which they injected the squid with a formol-saline solution to prevent rotting.
The squid now resides in a glass tank, filled to the brim with preservative solution, and is one of many specimens that can be seen as part of the behind-the-scenes Darwin Centre tour of the Natural History Museum.
On December 4, 2006, an adult giant squid was finally caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo. It was a small female about 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) long and weighing 50 kg (110 lb). It was pulled aboard the research vessel but died in the process. [6]
As of 2004, almost 600 giant squid specimens have been reported.[3]
[edit]Giant squid in culture



An illustration from the original edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea depicting a giant squid.
Main articles: Giant squid in culture and Kraken in popular culture
The elusive nature of the giant squid and its terrifying appearance have firmly established its place in the human imagination. Representations of the giant squid have been known from early legends of the Kraken through books such as Moby-Dick and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to modern animated television programs.
In particular, the image of a giant squid locked in battle with a sperm whale is a common one, although the squid is, in fact, the whale's prey and not an equal combatant.

[Gnarly Dancer 42]

retard reed = aaron reed

bad luck = bret little

tahoe = keton bowlby

soy esculea = ryan lemons

che blanc = nick taylor

narc-p rider = david hanson

itallpointswest = matt manzari

josh kirby = josh kirby

wcwc inc = drew danielo

reed hansen = I <3 TNT

chillman= Tim Kovacich

[cjbecker]

is that the longest post in wakeskating history

[ImSoWakested]

im so confused

[bob.]

Michael Manzer, dah?
matt manzari is on here, i think his name is itallpointswest or something like that

[cjbecker]

retard reed = aaron reed, does he post that much

[cjbecker]

bobby211, you are rite

[provin1327]

Michael Manzer, I think he's baked.

[wakechick]

haha, for real??? I only new of a few of the guys that were on the site that were pros. Now that is pretty cool...

[mr robotto]

haha that is cool, there were pros on here i didn't even know about....
thanks

[JamesBoardr]

kyle hyams. mark enns. steve campell. stu. pastura. kirby. caruso....

[tad]

brian earl spilner

[Bad Luck]

theres a ton of guys that just read the board and never post. just to see what all you little whipper-snappers are gossiping about.