And, surrounded by that cluster of four-foot long arms is a powerful parrot's beak the size of a small tangerine, snapping and cutting at anything pulled within its reach.
Nemo-attacking squid of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Sometimes, the whole animal vibrates in unison, and sometimes the colors move across its body in shimmering waves.
They are most common and largest off the coast of South America, where they can grow up to about 16 feet long and weigh several hundred pounds.
I don't think I would have wanted to run into that on a kayak.
Later that morning, we launched into a heavy fog, and just off Horse Head Island we ran into a full-on, daytime feeding frenzy of squid on the surface.