8-Foot Octopus Wrestles Camera From Diver (VIDEO)

If you’ve ever had the urge to watch wild animals attack the nosy tourists who get too close to them on their quest for the perfect picture (or video), well, now’s your chance.

The video below — that’s currently going viral — shows what happens when an 8-foot octopus decides it doesn’t like having a video camera shoved in its face. Enjoy. 🙂

Some background information on the video and octopus:

– The species in question is a Giant Pacific Octopus — the largest known species in the world. Individuals can grow to weigh more 150 lbs, and yo possess an arm-span of more than 15 feet. And those are conservative estimates, reports have been made of much larger individuals.

– The video was taken off of Bluefish Cove in Carmel, California, earlier this month

– The species possesses excellent camouflage — “by contracting or expanding tiny pigment-containing granules within cells known as chromatophores, an octopus can change the color of its skin, giving it the ability to blend into the environment. It is also able to alter its skin texture, providing even better camouflage. Dermal muscles in the octopus’s skin can create a heavily textured look through papillation, or cause skin to appear smooth.”

– Octopuses are highly intelligent. Interestingly, this species even possesses the ability to “recognize humans that they frequently come in contact with (at aquariums).”

Maybe this octopus will remember the diver in the video and meet him again somewhere. 🙁


Image Credit: Giant Octopus via Wikimedia CC

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