Humboldt squid and Carol Yager: Difference between pages

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'''Carol Yager''' ([[1960]]-[[1994]]) holds the distinction of having been the [[obesity|most obese]] person ever to live. When she died in 1994 at the age of 34, she weighed about 1200 [[pound (mass)|pounds]]. Some estimates place her weight at as much as 1600 pounds at her peak, but these are unverified. At death, she was 5'7" tall, and able to fit through her custom-built 48" wide front door, although some sources claim she was more than 5 feet wide.

{{Taxobox begin | color = pink | name = Humboldt Squid}}

{{Taxobox begin placement | color = pink }}

{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Animal]]ia}}

{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = [[Mollusc]]a}}

{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = [[Cephalopod]]a}}

{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = [[Teuthida]]}}

{{Taxobox familia entry | taxon = [[Ommastrephidae]]}}

{{Taxobox_subfamilia_entry | taxon = [[Ommastrephinae]]}}

{{Taxobox genus entry | taxon = '''''Dosidicus'''''}}<br>{{Taxobox_authority | author = [[Japetus Steenstrup|Steenstrup]] | date = [[1857]]}}

{{Taxobox species entry | taxon = '''''D. gigas'''''}}

{{Taxobox end placement}}

{{Taxobox section binomial_parens | color = pink | binomial_name = Dosidicus gigas| author = [[Alcide d'Orbigny|Orbigny]] | date = [[1835]]}}

{{Taxobox end}}

Like others in the 900+ pound weight class, Yager was not able to stand or walk, as her [[muscle]]s were not strong enough to lift her due to [[atrophy]].

The '''Humboldt Squid''' (''Dosidicus gigas''), also known as the '''Jumbo Squid''' or '''Jumbo Flying Squid''', is a large, aggressive predatory [[squid]] found in the waters of the [[Humboldt Current]] in the [[Pacific Ocean|Eastern Pacific Ocean]]. They are most commonly found at depths of 600 to 2300 feet from [[Tierra del Fuego]] to [[California]]. There is some evidence that they are spreading north into the waters of [[Oregon]], [[Washington]], [[British Columbia]] and [[Alaska]].

She lived in Mt Morris Township, near [[Flint, Michigan]], and was cared for by health care professionals, friends, her daughter Heather, and other family members, many of whom visited daily.

Humboldt Squid are [[social animal]]s, hunting in schools of up to 1200 individuals. They swim at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, propelled by water ejected through a [[hyponome]] (siphon) and by two diamond shaped fins. Their [[tentacle]]s bear barbed suckers with which they grasp prey and drag it towards a mouth containing a large, sharp beak.

Yager claimed to have started her massive weight gain deliberately as a child to discourage the sexual attacks of a "close family member," although in later interviews, she indicated that there were other contributing factors, or "skeletons in my closet", and "monsters" as she was quoted.

Humboldt Squid have a lifespan of only about one year, though they may grow to six feet and weigh 100 pounds. They can vary their skin colour from deep purplish red to white using [[chromatophore]]s, specialized skin cells. Their colouring and aggressive nature has earned them the nickname ''diablos rojos'' (red devils) from fishermen off the coast of [[Mexico]]. The squid are fished at night, when they rise to the surface to feed. [[Hand-line fishing|Hand-line]]s with luminous [[jig (fishing)|jig]]s are used to attract the squid which are sold as a delicacy in the [[Far East]]. There are numerous accounts of the squid attacking fishermen and divers in the area and [[cannibalistic]] behaviour is regularly seen.

In January, 1993, she was admitted to Hurley Medical Center, weighing-in at 1189 lbs. She suffered from [[cellulitis]] (her skin was breaking down due to the stress of holding in her mass). She stayed in the hospital for three months, where she was restricted to a 1200 [[calorie]] diet, and while there, lost 519 pounds, though most of this was fluid. (Massively obese people often suffer from [[edema]], and their weight can fluctuate with astonishing speed as fluid is taken up or released.) Yager sufferred from many other obesity-related health problems as well, including breathing difficulty, a dangerously high sugar level, and stress on her heart and other organs. Yager's death certificate lists kidney failure as the cause of death, with obesity and multiple organ failure as contributing causes.

{{biology-stub}}

It took a lot of teamwork among as many as 15 - 20 fire fighters and ambulance workers to convey Yager to the [[ambulance]], in relay fashion. One team inside the house would pass her through the doorway to another team on the outside, who would in turn pass her off to another team inside the ambulance, where she would ride on the floor, for her many trips to the hospital (13 times in two years). Eventually, she was moved into the [[nursing home]] where she lived after leaving the hospital. She appeared on the [[Jerry Springer Show]], and was the subject of attention from several [[dieting]] gurus.

== External links ==

A short time before her death, Yager's latest boyfriend, Larry Maxwell, who was characterized by her family as being 'an opportunist who courted media attention for money-making possibilities', married her friend, Felicia White. Maxwell had claimed that the only donation in Yager's name he ever received was for $20.00, although numerous talk shows, newspapers, radio stations, and other national and international media are reported to have offered her cash and other gifts in exchange for interviews, pictures, etc. Diet maven [[Richard Simmons]] is said to have been 'angry that Yager's story was actively peddled to tabloid and television media by Maxwell and others'.

*http://diver.net/seahunt/fend/f_scottc.htm

*http://www.seacamsys.com/hb_squid.htm

Yager was buried privately, with about 90 friends and family members attending memorial services.

*http://www.jimknowlton.com/squid.html

*http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:B6ZSPr5iQTkJ:www.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/Dosidicusgigas.html+humboldt+squid&hl=en&start=9

*http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/seashorediscoveries/mollusk_squids.html

*http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/07/0718_030718_jumbosquid.html

== See also ==

* [[List of the most obese humans]]

== Sources ==

* [http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/dimtext/kjn/people/heaviest.htm Dimensions Magazine, people known to have weighed more than 900 pounds]

* ''Bizarre'' magazine 64, p. 81

* [http://www.mlive.com/fljournal/ The Flint Journal]

* ''The Flint [Michigan] Journal'', Wednesday, August 18, 1993, page A1, "Weight loss brings star status" by Mike Stobbe (Journal health writer)

* ''The Flint Journal'', Tuesday, May 24, 1994, page C1, "Obese woman's losing bid to lose hits TV show"

* ''The Flint Journal'', Friday, June 17, 1994, page A1, "What next for 1,200-pound woman?" by Marcia Mattson (Journal staff writer)

* ''The Flint Journal'', Tuesday, July 19, 1994, page A1, "1,200-lb Woman dies" by Marcia Mattson

* ''The Flint Journal'', Wednesday, July 20, 1994, page B1, "Richard Simmons mourns Yager" by Marcia Mattson

* ''The Flint Journal'', Sunday, July 24, 1994, page B1, "1,200-lb. woman more than curiosity" by Ken Palmer (Journal staff writer)

* ''The Flint Journal'', Monday, July 25, 1994, page A6, "Americans must work harder to overcome weight problems"

[[Category:World record holders|Yager, Carol]]

*[[Kraken]]

[[Category:Obesity|Yager, Carol]]

*[[Giant squid]]

[[Category:1960 births|Yager, Carol]]

[[Category:1994 deaths|Yager, Carol]]