Time Warp

TIME WARP… Squid regrets little in Squid’s life, although Squid does wish Squid could turn back the clock and nix that time Squid tried the trendy sardine fast, eating nothing but sardines for days (seriously, no shrimp-flavored popcorn?). On Tuesday, Sept. 1, during a hastily called meeting, the Carmel City Council also grappled with turning back time. Their situation arose after receiving a “cure and correct” letter from resident Vinz Koller, charging the Council with violating the Brown Act during a closed session meeting on Aug. 24 when they met behind closed doors to discuss the search for a new city administrator.

City Attorney Brian Pierik disagreed and contended that such discussions are allowed out of the public eye. That said, Pierik recommended the council consider correcting its previous actions in response to Koller’s letter, to prevent him taking his complaint to a higher authority. Pierik’s recommendation led to some momentary confusion.

“If I understand, we need to push the clock back as if that meeting never occurred to cure this process?” Councilmember Alissandra Dramov asked.

“We don’t need to push the clock back because that’s impossible. It’s history and we cannot change history,” Pierik answered.

Despite worries over delaying the hiring process, the council voted to set aside any work completed and redo it after public comment. Hopefully that was cure enough, but Squid agrees with Koller. Like the sardine fast, discussing it in closed session stinks.

BIG FISH… Squid knows there are a lot of fish (and a lot of cephalopods) in the sea, but sometimes Squid – with a capital S – admits that Squid can start feeling like a big creature in a small bay. But then along comes science to burst Squid’s self-important bubble, reminding Squid that the ocean is deep and wide and diverse.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, officials at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that on a research voyage in August, a team of researchers came upon something remarkable. While surveying the seafloor near Davidson Seamount using a remotely operated vehicle with a camera, they observed a bigfin squid emerge from the darkness about two miles deep.

“This sighting is the first confirmed live observation of this elusive squid in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and only MBARI’s second encounter with this squid in nearly 40 years of deep-sea exploration,” according to a statement from MBARI.

Squid is mesmerized to see a relative that’s so rarely seen, and that’s just freaking cool. So Squid popped some shrimp-flavored popcorn and watched the graceful giant flap around on YouTube more than a few times over.