strange octopus behaviour

[doole]

I might urge folks not to feed fish with dog food. Do you feed your dog fish food?

Seriously, food made from land mammals will often cause liver damage in marine animals. They're just not built to digest it.

 

[devolution365]

DandyDon: Dinner plate size is large for the Carib, and I have never seen more than one at a time. Yes, you got a rare sight!! It was probably the fish food that attracted them.

Cool!

I have to wonder if it's not at least partially due to the fact that they blend in so well with their surroundings, though. -Another time while snorkeling in Jamaica the DM was pointing stuff out -sea cucumbers and the like, but totally passed up an octopus. I pointed it out to my fiance, but he didn't see it either.

...or maybe that was due to the punch they served on the boat on the way out, but I'm pretty sure I saw an octopus that time too!

 

[LavaSurfer]

Like these stories. I hope to see one some day.

I have seen quite a few. The problem is they are great at hiding even out in the open. They are chameleons and can change color to almost any surface. As mentioned, rocks that move have a high probability of being an Octopus in disguise or an octopus pulling rock over itself to hide.

I once watched a huge Octopus in Hawaii cruising along the shore in about 3-6 feet of water . I was sitting on the sea wall in downtown Kailua-Kona in front of Hard Rock Cafe and watched it for almost an hour. It changed colors constantly and when it attacked some poor crustacean or victim it would flash pink just as it attacked.

Very Cool to watch.

While diving they are shy and bolt at rapid movements and lots of bubbles. Breathing control and patience art the key to getting close and as I stated, once they trust you there is a good chance you can coax them onto you. Let them make the move. Put out your hand and let them extend a tentacle. if they sense no danger they might surprise you and climb on you.

 

[DandyDon]

They're good eating too.

 

[LavaSurfer]

They're good eating too.

Amen Bruddah! :05:

 

[doole]

They're good eating too.

I actually never thought so. They taste like pencil erasers, to me.

 

[SubMariner]

Pearce seems to have a way with these critters. For some inexplicable reason he is able to coax them out of hiding and interact with them like they are a pet. The time that comes most readily to mind is while we were diving on the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea.

There was a fair sized octopus by the windlass, so well camoflaged that we almost didn't see it. Pearce put his hand down by the windlass (at this point the octo had shimmied down into a hidey-hole beneath the equipment) and the next thing I know, a tentacle slowly comes questing out to touch his fingers.

The octo explored his hand for a bit, then came out of it's hole to play with rest of his hand and arm. It was gentle, inquisitive. You could see the huge grin on Pearce's face despite the reg in his mouth.

Then the octo, simply wandered back into its hole; not in a rush, or frightened. Sort in a "had a nice visit... thanks for stopping by".

Yup... they are amazing creatures.

 

[LavaSurfer]

Pearce seems to have a way with these critters. For some inexplicable reason he is able to coax them out of hiding and interact with them like they are a pet. The time that comes most readily to mind is while we were diving on the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea.

There was a fair sized octopus by the windlass, so well camoflaged that we almost didn't see it. Pearce put his hand down by the windlass (at this point the octo had shimmied down into a hidey-hole beneath the equipment) and the next thing I know, a tentacle slowly comes questing out to touch his fingers.

The octo explored his hand for a bit, then came out of it's hole to play with rest of his hand and arm. It was gentle, inquisitive. You could see the huge grin on Pearce's face despite the reg in his mouth.

Then the octo, simply wandered back into its hole; not in a rush, or frightened. Sort in a "had a nice visit... thanks for stopping by".

Yup... they are amazing creatures.

Exactly what I am talking about.

I had it explained to me this way:

When you find an Octopus, very slowly move towards it and maintain slow breathing and good buoyancy. Sudden movement or a blast of bubbles will scare them. Then, ever so slowly put your hand close enough that it can feel the heat from your hand (Maybe 6 inches or so). Once it feels your heat it will place one tentacle on your hand and test you out. Over the course of a few minutes it may then put more tentacles on you and eventually come out and attach itself to your arm. It does this to absorb your body heat and is also showing its trust at this point. Once it does this, you own it and can play with it until it grows bored and swims off.

I have seen this a couple of times and watched as it was passed from person to person.

 

[Oceandvr]

You saw this flick, or heard about it...?

I actually saw the show. It was pretty neat to see the octopus maneuver its way through various sizes of tubes with the smallest having an opening the size of a quarter. Watching it move from its tank to the crab tank and back was interesting as well. I knew they were intelligent, this just showed a glimpse of that intelligence. It was on one of the Discovery Channels.

I've seen another video clip on Animal Planet (probably the Most Extreme series) that showed the octopus actually opening a bottle that had a crab in it. The crab was an easy meal for this octopus.

It's such an interesting species and their chromatophores are so fascinating. Talk about an incredible skill!

 

[archman]

They taste like pencil erasers, to me.

Ha, I totally have to remember this!