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| Snagged from the internet |
Last week a friend of mine told me about a Netflix documentary that she enjoyed tremendously, entitled "My Octopus Teacher." I knew little about them, but once I watched it, I got really interested and read all I could find about octopuses. Of course I remembered the old Beatle's song, "The Octopus's Garden," written by Ringo Starr back in 1968 and still available to listen to today. I can still hear the tune rolling around in my head, although I didn't listen to it again because I was afraid of getting an earworm. (It happened anyway.)
The documentary follows the story of a man, Craig Foster, who was diving in the cold waters off the coast of Africa, when he saw an octopus hiding among a cloak of shells.
Enchanted, he began following this incredibly shy creature, trying to prove he wasn't a predator by staying very still in her presence. For weeks she evaded him: hiding in her den, camouflaging herself, or pushing her liquid body into the nearest crack to escape.
And then, one day, she approached him and sent out a tentacle to explore this strange creature. Over the period of about a year, he went every day to see her and they began a wonderful relationship. I've since learned about how incredibly smart these creatures are, and that they can recognize faces, as well as do some amazing things, like unscrewing the lids of jars and solving complex puzzles.
He got her to trust him enough to crawl onto his chest and let him "pet" her, if stroking an octopus can be considering petting. I loved the documentary and now know far more than I ever thought I would about cephalopods (the genus that includes octopuses, cuttlefish, nautiloids, and squid). He stayed with her until she mated and cultivated her thousands of offspring, after which she died. I was heartbroken because he was so overcome. Anyway, it's a really beautiful story of the relationship between two very different species. I'll never see octopuses the same way again.
:-)
That sounds like a winner. I'll add it to my watch list. I would never have assigned such attributes to an octopus!
ReplyDeleteInteresting ... and now I've got that earworm too!
ReplyDeleteI don't do Netflix, but wish now I did.
ReplyDeleteThat program sounds great. I’ll check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks DJan, I've seen this advertised on Netflix and it looked interesting, you just made it much more so. Oh and I got that Ringo earworm the moment I saw the title of your post :)
ReplyDeleteOctolab TV is on Youtube. Researchers study octopus behaviour and reactions to puzzles/challenges in the lab. Then they release them. It is very sad how a female octopus will care for her offspring while slowly dying.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a tear jerker with a sad ending. But it made you learn something.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting...I never think of octopus other than scary:)
ReplyDeleteThey are amazingly intelligent creatures. I find myself envying that man - despite his pain when she died.
ReplyDeleteStrangely wonderful. Just shows how little we really understand of this wonderful world we live in.
ReplyDeleteSounds really interesting. I realise I know so little about sea creatures. I now know what my earworm for the day will be, though.
ReplyDeleteAs a former marine biologist wanna be, this really fascinated me and makes me sad I don't have Netflix. I had heard how smart they are but didn't know they could form attachments to a human. I was shocked and sad to learn she died.
ReplyDeleteIn my queue and have heard a couple of people mention how wonderful the documentary is. I figured it would be as octopi are such smart, interesting creatures. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a heartbreaking story! I'll tell David about this and we'll watch it together. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThey are a fascinating animal.
ReplyDeleteDJan, this sounds like something I would really enjoy. Thanks for recommending it.
ReplyDeleteSending along my wishes for you...HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful film. There are so many intelligent creatures that we've never treated as such.
ReplyDeleteWatched it immediately after reading your post. It was wonderful. I keep thinking back to when she was playing with the fish and then she embraced the human as if she knew she would not be able to do that ever again. Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteI watched that movie too and really loved it. I was sad knowing she was at the end of her life, but happy she was able to fulfill her life cycle.
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