The word kraken conjures up visions of gigantic, tentacled, and deadly sea monsters, but it's an image born more of legend than reality. The oceans, however, do remain one of the last sources of profound mystery on earth, and they have been slow to give up the secrets of the creatures that sailors have mythologized and demonized for thousands of years.
In Kraken, author Wendy Williams reveals the truths behind the squid, one of the most charismatic, enigmatic, and curious inhabitants of the sea, unfurling a wild narrative ride through the world of squid science and adventure. In addition to squid, both giant and otherwise, Kraken examines other equally enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish.
Along the way, Williams examines
? the riddle of just what constitutes intelligence via the octopus, an animal whose brain is wrapped around its throat;
? the use of kaleidoscopic skin cells that allow cephalopods to instantly assume a range of colors, from neutrals to neon, for camouflage or communication;
? the ways that squid have greatly helped scientists understand the inner workings of the human brain, despite their seemingly alien biology;
? the squid's ability to survive the five major mass extinctions over the past half billion years.
Accessible and entertaining, Kraken is the first substantial volume on the subject of squid in more than a decade, offering up the stories of the scientists who pursue these extraordinary creatures as well as the latest research and information about these fascinating and mysterious animals.
For
BELLA JEAN THOMAS,
who was fed by the ocean as a child,
and who loved the ocean
more than
anyone else I know
