The Giant Pacific Octopus

This is a Giant Pacific Octopus. It was well named by a certain Captain Obvious, for it is indeed all of the following: giant, pacific, and octopus.

If I had to pick a favorite animal (because a 2nd grader demanded so, for instance), it would probably be the Giant Pacific Octopus. But to be fair, all octopuses* are awesome. These animals are crafty, sneaky, curious, and awesome. To illustrate this, I offer your the following anecdotes and random facts:

*It is indeed octopuses, and not octopi.  Latin words ending in “us” are made plural with “i,” but octopus ends with “pus” from the Greek word for “foot.”  With no Latin directly involved, you don’t make it plural with any fancy “i” at the end. It’s just octopuses. Consider yourself knowledge-bombed.

1. Octopuses, like all intelligent animals, can get bored, which can lead to destructive behaviors, so many aquariums supply their resident octopuses with toys. The octopus at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA has a Mr. Potato Head in his tank. I’m not kidding. I saw it.

2. Octopuses can tell their human handlers apart, and they often have favorites… and not-so-favorites. If an octopus doesn’t like you, you might get squirted with water when you walk by his tank. So watch out.

3. Octopuses eat just about everything they can find in the ocean, which is probably why they are so smart. They have to improvise all the time to get food.

4. Giant Pacific Octopuses are solitary animals and only live for 2 years. How strange to be so smart and complicated, but live alone and sleep under rocks for just 2 years.

5. Giant Pacific Octopuses have been known to curiously “inspect” scuba divers’ equipment, which usually consists of tugging on various parts of the scuba get-up. I read a report of a diver who almost had his mask pulled off by an octopus. In the octopus’s defense, I don’t think he realized that his curiosity could literally kill the cat, or human, in this case.

After writing this, I did a quick google search for “scuba cat” and found the highlight of my day:

6. Lastly, I present to you a story from my friend Sharin about the octopus in her UCSD Zoology class.

It would appear that the octopus swooshed herself across the room to rid the other tank of its inhabitants and then fwooshed herself back to her own tank.

I have heard reports of octopuses in aquariums breaking into other exhibits in the night, gorging themselves on rare fish, and retreating to their own tanks before detection, but before this, I hadn’t heard of an octopus leaving water to do this.

Several questions:
1. How did she even notice the tank across the room full of fish?
    1a. What if it had just been a TV playing an endless loop of Finding Nemo? What would she have done then?

2. Wasn’t she worried about dying on the munchy-induced journey?
    2a. Was the zoology department putting her on a diet or something? Why so desperate for food?

3. Did she return to her own tank, despite the risk of being out of water a second time, to avoid immediate blame?
    3a. Has she done this before?