What a clever little cephalopod. Diver Robert Suntay recently captured this underwater footage of a pint-sized octopus schlepping a rusty can across the sea floor.
The whole scene is pretty adorable. This little bugger has clearly grown very attached to its can, and it’s not about to let some nosy cameraman scoop up its brand new mobile home. This is made especially clear by the way the octopus slams the door (shell) in Suntay’s face around 1:36. (Okay, so it’s not really a slam, per se… it’s more of a dramatic, if clumsy, slow-close. Either way, I’m sure it was VERY awkward for Suntay.)
It’s not uncommon for octopuses to seek shelter in sea shells; in 2009, an octopus was actually spotted using coconut shells as portable armor, marking the first time scientists had ever observed tool use in an invertebrate species. Still, it’s interesting to see the ways that nature adapts to all the foreign materials crap we throw at it.
https://gizmodo.com/what-is-the-correct-pluralization-of-octopus-5897603
https://gizmodo.com/octopus-uses-coconut-shells-as-portable-armor-5426109
See also: Robert’s video of the robust ghost pipefish.
https://gizmodo.com/meet-a-crafty-fish-who-spends-all-day-pretending-to-be-5905795
[CNN]
