A giant octopus may have been looking for a date when it attacked a submarine off of Vancouver Island last fall.
The remote-operated vehicle, by Suboceanic Sciences Canada, was
checking salmon research equipment 55 metres beneath the surface off
Brooks Peninsula, on the northwest coast of the Island, on Nov. 18.
Underwater footage from the incident shows the octopus attacking the
sub, first by attaching a couple of arms to an underwater cable. The
octopus then reached another one of its eight arms out to grab the
vehicle.
A nervous Mike Wood, of Suboceanic Sciences Canada, was operating
the ROV and slammed on the thrusters when the octopus attacked. He
ended up blasting the approximate 45-kilogram octopus with water, silt
and seashells to get rid of it.
"I was very nervous," Wood said. "They (octopuses) have got a parrot
beak and can bite with the pressure of 1,000 pounds. There’s a cable
which it could have been nicked or (it could have cut the) umbilical
cable."
The umbilical cable is what keeps the $200,000 vehicle connected to its operator.
Wood said the noctural animal’s behaviour was strange. "It was very
unusual because octopuses don’t normally come out and hunt during the
daylight," he said.
The waters around B.C. provide perfect living conditions for the
giant Pacific Octopus. They are among the largest in the world, with
almost a four-metre arm span.
Octopuses not only have tentacles lined with suction cups, but they
can change the colour of their skin to neon bright colours to hide from
predators.
Some octopuses will show they are interested in mating by flashing bright colours to attract a partner.
Jim Cosgrove, an octopus expert at the Royal B.C. Museum, believes the octopus may have been senile.
"It could have been looking for a meal or looking for a girlfriend,"
Cosgrove said. "It’s difficult to know what exactly it was doing or why
it wanted to make contact with the ROV for whatever reason."
The octopus attack was not the first time the ROV was approached by
giant animal. It was pushed and bumped last year by Luna, the lonely
killer whale who was separated from his pod.
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