Rare Blanket Octopus Filmed 'Dancing' in Great Barrier Reef

The animal has only been seen in the wild a handful of times.

Photograph: Jacinta Shackleton

A rare blanket octopus has been spotted in the waters around the Great Barrier Reef.

Marine biologist Jacinta Shacketon saw the aquatic animal in a 'once in a lifetime encounter' while she was snorkeling around the reef near Lady Elliot Island, off the coast of Queensland.

“When I first saw it, I thought it could have been a juvenile fish with long fins, but as it came closer, I realised it was a female blanket octopus and I had this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement,” she said.“I kept yelling through my snorkel, ‘it’s a blanket octopus!’ I was so excited I was finding it difficult to hold my breath to dive down and video it.”

Found in both subtropical and tropical oceans, blanket octopuses are incredibly rare. There has only been a handful of sightings of the animal in the wild, with the first male spotted just 21 years ago. 

Blanket octopuses get their name from the webbing that stretches between the arms of the females, giving them a cape-like effect. If the animals feel threatened, they can create a blanket-like silhouette to frighten away potential attackers.

"The blankets can be folded under the octopus’ arms to make for a faster getaway, if needed. This cape can be detached when the octopus is in distress, to distract or cling to a predator," says the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

Shackleton said she feels very lucky to have been snorkeling at the right time to catch and glimpse and capture footage of this rare animal. 

“Seeing one in real life is indescribable, I was so captivated by its movements, it was as if it was dancing through the water with a flowing cape. The vibrant colours are just so incredible, you can’t take your eyes off it.

“I’ve truly never seen anything like it before and don’t think I ever will again in my life.”

Octopuses Under Threat

Elsewhere in the octopus family, this intelligent and emotionally complex species is set to become the newest victim of the horrors of factory farming.

Multi-million-dollar Spanish Corporation Nueva Pescanova is planning to open a commercial octopus farm in the Canary Islands in 2023, where at least 60,000 captive octopuses will be kept and killed every year for human consumption.

Scientists and conservationists are fiercely opposing the company’s plans, arguing that the octopus, as evidenced by hundreds of scientific studies, are sentient beings that feel pain and emotions.

“These animals are amazing animals. They are solitary and very smart. So to put them in barren tanks with no cognitive stimulation, it’s wrong for them,” said Dr. Elena Lara, research manager at Compassion in World Farming (CIWF).

Lara added, “The problem with octopus is that they are completely wild, so we don’t know exactly what they need, or how we can provide a better life for them.”

Please join Species Unite in calling on the Spanish Government and the European Union to ban octopus farming and stop this new form of mechanized animal cruelty before it is too late.

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