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Somewhere in the depths of the Pacific lurks an elusive giant. This animal deceivingly weighs a mere one hundred pounds but stretches nearly six feet or more. It has the ability to swim up to fifteen miles an hour, allowing it to quickly hunt its prey before ripping the captor’s flesh with its razor-sharp beak. Having eight tentacles lined with suckers and sharp teeth and two other appendages that can easily grab onto a man, this monster can drag a person hundreds of feet below the surface. This creature is not just the stuff of legend. It is real. It has been known to injure or kill a human. It is the Devil Squid of Lobo Beach.

Swimming in shoals, or groups, that often reach one thousand in number, the Humboldt Squid has rightfully earned the name Diablo Rojo, or Red Devil, along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Also referred to as the Giant Squid, the Diablo Rojo is most prevalent along the Pacific’s Humboldt Current, hence its namesake. Although preferring the ocean’s deepest, darkest water, the Humboldt Squid does occasionally encounter a human. If the squid is provoked, it can change its color to a deep red. And, once Diablo Rojo materializes, the provocation can be particularly dangerous for the human.

If threatened, the carnivorous Humboldt Squid can easily cause injury or death. Nonetheless, thrill seekers who are brave enough to take on Diablo Rojo venture out on the waters of the eastern Pacific near Baja to fish for squid. Obviously, squid fishing is a sport that ultimately requires a great deal of skill, as well as a huge amount of courage.

Due to its love of deep, dark water, the Humboldt Squid is an animal that typical visitors to the Pacific coast rarely, if ever, see. These individuals might consider themselves lucky, though, for Diablo Rojo didn’t earn its name for nothing. Its ferocity when provoked makes it an animal that only a select number of brave, some might even say foolish, souls ever want to encounter.