On August 5, underwater photographer John Roney stumbled across a large Pacific octopus with orange tentacles extending like a living tapestry. The creature grabbed for his camera, took it, and began shooting the chilly waters of Nanoose Bay, on Vancouver Island.
Roney had seen octopuses before, but this one was different. Its eight arms zeroed in on Roney’s camera. Instead of retreating, it extended a tentacle, then another, wrapping them around the device. Roney made a split second decision: he let go. For a few minutes, the octopus took charge, carrying the camera along the ocean floor, recording a shaky, intimate view of its underbelly and web-like arms.
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Roney eventually discovered that the octopus had captured shots of the creature’s whitish underside and the delicate dance of its tentacles. When the octopus eventually let go of the camera, it focused on Mullen, extending its arms in a hug-like gesture without hesitation, or so the footage shows.
Marine researcher Anna Hall is not surprised by the octopus’ behavior. Giant Pacific octopuses have brains that equal those of certain vertebrates, and the camera was simply too appealing to ignore.
What makes this so cool is how rare it is, as this octopus chose connection over escape. It engaged both Roney and Mullen, turning their dive into a nature documentary of sorts. The footage, Roney told reporters, was better than anything he’d ever shot of an octopus’s inside world.
A few years ago during the filming of the BBC’s Spy in the Ocean a real octopus snuggled up to a camera disguised as one of its own kind and wrapped it in tentacles. Roney sees this as part of their magic.
[Source]
