🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙! While diving in the deep waters of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, researchers aboard the E/V Nautilus came across more than a THOUSAND octopuses! These octopuses – Muusoctopus robustus – were in a likely brooding posture. They were tucked into nooks in the seafloor with their arms inverted, covering their bodies and white egg clusters.
Yes, those white dots are all octopuses. Here’s a closer view of one of them:
(Isn’t she beautiful? That’s her siphon that she’s showing off. Octopuses squeeze water through their siphon to swim and steer. They also use their siphon to blow oxygen-rich water gently over their eggs.)
The octopuses were near shimmering fluid seeps, which were previously unknown to occur in this region. Near the octopuses, you can see sea anemones, sea snails, and other organisms. This dive was at about 3,000 meters (1.9 miles). We have footage of the octopuses for you, too:
The E/V Nautilus is currently in port to repair its ROV cable, but should be out at sea again soon! Find photos, videos, and information about the expedition here, and visit nautiluslive.org to watch the dives.
(GIF 1 description: Many white octopuses resting on the seafloor. GIF 2: An octopus rests on the seafloor and displays her siphon through her arms. GIFs/video credit: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA)
Scientists named the octopus cities Octopolis and Octlantis and I just – yes.
wow i hope they invite us to their parties
I saw a documentary about this. Climate change and habitat destruction, while bad, are forcing some octopuses to live closer together, potentially solving a problem that has kept them from being a far more dominant species. They are super smart and very capable of learning from each other but when they live alone, they never get a chance to learn from other generations because their parents leave or die. Now there’s older ones living with younger ones who can pass on knowledge.
Lol a bunch of octopuses just crawled up on a beach the other day for no discernible reason and it was like “meh, it’s 2017” and everyone kinda missed it. I found it funny as fuck and decided they were coming out here to tell us all to cut our shit out.
I had a biology teacher that told us this story about an octopus at an aquarium in Australia. The staff were concerned because their population of crustaceans kept disappearing. No bodies or anything. So they checked the video feed to find out what’s up.
Across from the the crustacean tank was a small octopus tank. This little fucker squeezed out of a tiny hole at the top of his tank, walk across the hall, and get into the crustacean tank. He would then hunt and eat. After he was done, he crawled back out and get back in his tank
Here’s the kicker: security guards patrolled the area. The staff realized that the octopus had memorized the security’s routine. It would escape and be back between the guards’ round.
My friend who worked at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska had a similar story. Rare fish were disappearing, they suspected theft, and so set up a camera. An octopus was unlocking the top of its tank, walking across the suspended walkway, unlocking the other tank, eating his fill, re-locking the other tank, then re-locking its own tank.
I can’t remember what zoo this happened at, but there was another octopus somewhere who was unscrewing a water valve in the room where its tank was located and routinely flooding the place. The staffers had no idea what it was until they filmed the octopus caught in the act.
RELEASE THE KRAKEN!! But, sir, it has already released itself!
My dad worked in a lab and one of the rooms had a tank with an octopus in it. If they didn’t go play with the octopus he got bored and would climb out of his tank and steal the paperwork off the desks, and drag stuff into his tank to let the scientists know he was upset with them.
Cephalopods are superlative and sneaky assassins, using countless tricks to catch unsuspecting critters.
Sign up for our texting program when you’re here to catch these hunters in action in our Tentacles exhibit. Text the word “experience” to 56512 to find out when our exhibits are being fed!
Octopuses are reclusive animals, and the gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) is no exception.
During the day, it retreats into its den in the rocky reefs of Australia, which it often blocks with rocks. It comes out most often at night, to catch lobsters, crabs, and other creatures with its meter-long arms. But in 2012, researchers reported that the species is surprisingly social. Diving in Jervis Bay, Australia, the scientists documented as many as 16 gloomy octopuses all living in a large pile of discarded shells—dubbed Octopolis—mating and fighting, even during the daytime…
their arms are similar to our tongues in that their muscle fibers are oriented in three different directions
octopuses are disconcertingly strong (anecdotal evidence says that a 15 inch wide octopus was as strong as the scientist handling it)
on that note that same scientist said that when her octopuses escaped she would have to run behind them, “like cats” (paraphrased from sy montgomery’s the soul of an octopus)
aquariums have “octopus enriching programs” so they don’t get bored and fuck shit up in their tanks
they are crazy smart like. really. really fucking smart
but we can’t compare their intelligence to ours because our evolution branched from the same common ancestor so long ago we cannot comprehend how they think
it’s believed that their intelligence evolved when they lost their shell, and had to adapt to predict how countless of different prey and predators would act, how to avoid them, distract them, lure them or trick them
they visualize how other creatures are going to act, which means they have have awareness that others are individuals which is a type of consciousness but i can’t remember what it’s called right now
like, they use tools
they have distinct personalities
aquarium octopuses are socialized from a very young age and even though in the wild they are solitary creatures they become extremely friendly with enough human exposure
sometimes they dislike people for no apparent reason and will shoot water at them
they have three hearts
each of their arms has a tiny brain that controls movement and sensory input on its own i shit you not
they are color blind and yet they can camouflage their color and nobody knows how
they can change the color and texture of their skin faster than human eyes can keep up with it
great pacific octopuses are white when they are peaceful, and red when they’re excited
aquarium octopus have escaped their tanks and slithered down pipes into the ocean
escaped their tanks to eat the fish in other tanks
escaped their tanks to go fight other octopuses cuz they were bored
octopus fight club
learned how to take photographs
cost thousands of dollars by flooding new floors
they can feel, taste, and smell with their suckers and all of their skin
they enjoy tasting their food by slowly moving it through their suckers instead of shoving it in their beaks
they can rewrite their rna. no, really
the only reason why they haven’t evolved to take over as the next dominant race is because they’re doing pretty well in the ocean so there’s no need for them to adapt further
there’s a ton more but i’m so overwhelmed by love i can’ think of any at the moment i’m going to cry
read the soul of an octopus by sy mongomery no she didn’t pay me i just love octopuses so much
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