Came across this, wild story!

FROM THE SF CHRONICLE of November 5th, 1937:

“A Fort Bragg grandmother today recounted a thrilling story of her fight against a giant octopus and how she and two other women finally beat the monster to death before it could drag her beneath the waves of the Mendocino Coast. Mrs. H.C. Graves was gathering abalones. She felt something brush against her leg, and thinking it was a bit of seaweed, tried to kick free.

She was unsuccessful. Glancing down, she was horrified to see a monster devil fish sweeping its tentacles toward her. One long arm reached up and grabbed her left wrist. Another came up and swept around her body. Struggling frantically, Mrs. Graves kept her right arm free. Screaming for help, fighting to keep from being dragged down, she clubbed the octopus with her heavy abalone iron [a crowbar-like device used to pry abs from their rocks]

Her companions rushed to the beach to her aid and joined in beating the big devil fish until it was killed. The fish, when dragged ashore, measured 10 feet 5 inches from the tip of its longest tentacle to the opposite tip. There were seven of those mighty arms, and the octopus was one of the largest ever taken on the Mendocino Coast. Nearby were two smaller devil fish that slithered off as the women battled the big one.”

Ocean to Plate - by Terry Ryder in Word of Mouth Magazine

https://wordofmouthmendo.com/word-of-mouth-stories/2024-summer/ocean-to-plate

“With 40-plus years in and around Noyo Harbor, Dan (Platt) knows what is going on and is generous in sharing his knowledge.”

“California fisheries are considered a “Legacy Industry” that sustains local families while helping to attract tourists. Shockingly, the California commercial fleet that included 5,000 boats in 1980 diminished to only 464 vessels by 2022, and Fort Bragg is home to 103 of these registered commercial fishing boats.”

https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/santa-cruz-surfers-spot-mola-mola-sunfish-19541200.php

In Arizona for a week for the Western Pyrotechnics Association, tonight a member is launching a 24” shell.

Pretty freakin' amazing!


"Passengers aboard the National Geographic Endurance came across the fin whales foraging near Antarctica—the biggest congregation of baleen whales seen in more than a century."

Dang, that is gonna be amazing! You folks that live on the Coast, please share pics and vids of the swell if you can!

Wow! Biggun.

https://www.sportfishingmag.com/news/nearly-40-year-old-albacore-record-likely-broken-in-new-jersey/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&tp=i-1NGB-Et-bM9-1Rv9tV-1c-ZUCK-1c-1Rv3Ve-l8BFScEuPn-1t4Yq6&primary_k=8457564