Posted on 01/26/2006 9:27:57 PM PST by Tyche
A giant Pacific octopus that attacked a remotely operated submarine off north Vancouver Island could have been senile or maybe just peckish, a marine biologist said Wednesday.
"Large male octopuses in the last part of their lives become senescent, or senile," said Jim Cosgrove of the Royal B.C. Museum. "They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours such as being out in the daytime," said Cosgrove, an expert in octopus behaviour.
The attack occurred Nov. 18, 2005, off Brooks Peninsula, on the northwest coast of the Island.
The submarine was 55 metres deep and Mike Wood was on a boat on the surface, guiding the submarine along the ocean floor looking for electronic receivers that detect salmon.
"I had the ROV [remote operated vehicle] with its manipulator claw attached on a ground rope. It took me two hours to find this particular receiver. The octopus came from the receiver direction about 30 to 50 feet."
The octopus anchored three tentacles on the same cable the vehicle was holding onto "and a fourth tentacle shot forward very fast and wrapped around my manipulator claw."
Wood immediately threw the sub into reverse and blasted the octopus with sand and debris from the ocean floor. The sub has about 50 kilograms of thrust "so it's quite powerful," Wood said.
In a video recording, the octopus whips its tentacles around as it tries to deal with the sub's counterattack.
"Eventually it releases the vehicle and it gets blasted off into the distance," said Wood.
The octopus was not injured, he said.
"It's unusual for something like this to happen, a giant Pacific octopus attacking an underwater robot," said Wood, suggesting this is probably the first time it has been recorded.
Octopus and Squids are real sneaky guys.
See also, Octopus kills sharks:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1499671/posts
The animal kingdom version of "Sheets" Byrd.
...let's sue the octopus for sexual harrassment...
"They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours .."
Oh, I see. Old octupi are just like Sen Robt (Sheetz) Bird and the Swimmer, doddering old fools with inappropriate behaviours.
Hey! Watch It Bub!
I resemble that remark!
LOL!
Stone truth, I've never seen an octopus on a ballot...
BUMP!
How do they know? Did they take it to Emergency?
Octopii are wicked smart, from what I understand. They can be trained to open jars to get food simply by watching someone open the jar. They sneak on board fishing boats, break into the hold, open up the crab traps, and feast on crabs.
Octopi are very intelligent. The Oregon Coast Aquarium had an octopus in one of its tanks that did NOT like being there. It was red all of the time (octopi turn red when they're stressed or angry.) One day one of the staff came to work early in the morning...and found the octopus in the parking lot! It had climbed out of its tank, squeezed under the front door and tried to escape back to the ocean. They put the octopus back in his (her?) tank...only to get another surprise a time later, when another employee found it, again, slithering across the parking lot. This time they took the hint and released the frustrated animal back into the sea.
Sounds like one of those darn Japanese tentacle monsters.
Yeah, maybe we shouldn't eat them anymore.
They're pretty smart. Last I heard was a comparison to dogs.
Yes, precisely.
They are also quite delicious too!!!
Wow.
Have a link to the story?
That doesn't mean it doesn't still have the red a**. :-)
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