That's what I'm concluding from the fragment of action I saw a few days ago.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
The setting...Our boat was about this far from the island you see in this picture, a little further along the shore. We are in about 200 feet of water here; the island drops steeply into the channel, typical for these waters of the Salish Sea.
Mr O who is driving says Look over there! I turn quickly from the gulls I'm watching, see a flash of pink and a Harbor Seal. We thought in the moment maybe it had caught a salmon? I took a few pics as we passed (try not to be intrusive with wildlife, keep a respectful distance) and it's when I looked at the pics later I realized what an extraordinary event had been going down. Never seen anything like it...if any of you Gentle Readers out there has had experience with these creatures, I'd really love to hear your story.
Pics are not good quality, out of focus mostly, sorry, it's what I snapped quickly passing by at 6 or 7 knots under power and we did not circle back (what I said above). After the pink/seal impression...
The seal rears its head back, and it looks like it has bits of pink in its mouth:
That's an octopus! We are looking at one of the eight arms of a Giant Pacific Octopus (known to local scuba divers as a GPO, and to science as Enteroctopus dofleini). It's a pretty big one, judging from the size of the arm and the pink all around the seal underwater.
Follow me below the tentacles for more on this fleeting GPO encounter, and a bit about the Giant Pacific Octopus...
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
The GPO is the largest octopus in the Salish Sea, and arguably the largest octopus in the world. Arms outstretched in all directions it can grow to 30' in diameter. They grow quickly in these cold oxygen-rich waters, until around 4 years when they reproduce and die. I saw smaller, ie. younger, GPOs when I used to scuba dive in these waters, but at most 15 feet outstretched. These creatures are Cephalopds (a class of Mollusk, related to clams and snails) generally known as the most intelligent invertebrates, and in my opinion more clever than many vertebrates. They think, remember, solve problems and have distinct personalities. It's such a gift to see one in the wild.
My dive buddy snapped some photos of me introducing myself to a small GPO one time. Here's the thing though. Their intelligence is very different from ours, they think differently. As social animals, humans dedicate a great deal of our mind to how we interact with others. Octopuses are loners, so their interaction is more with their environment, of which you become an element if you come near. You approach slowly and wait to be recognized. Sometimes they reach out and investigate you, others will ignore you or hide. They have chemotactic capability - the ability to taste what they touch - and they find neoprene rubber distasteful, so a GPO is unlikely to "shake hands" unless you take off your dive gloves. Their touch is very solid and muscular, and the suction cups hold you securely until it decides to let go, although you can peel them off with your fingers if need be I've been told. You can not just pull away from them if they want to hold you. This octo did not like the taste of my neoprene hood but it was interested in my nylon drysuit. We are "shaking arms" in the 2nd photo. I felt very honored by its interest.
On another occasion a GPO was more playful with me. I was holding my gloves under my arm hoping to be acceptable to the octo, and it snatched one, hiding it in some crevice of the rock nearby before it departed. I looked everywhere for it...no luck. One less nasty piece of neoprene in circulation? I did not take offense; this is their home and I'm a visitor. My hand was very cold for the rest of the day...the water is 48ºF in these parts! (I only dive in water warmer than 80ºF these days :))
Knowing how muscular, coordinated and smart these creatures are, I had to wonder what was going on between the GPO and the seal on this occasion.
GPOs rarely swim out in the open, preferring to hide out in dens or pulling themselves along the seabed with their arms. The underwater rock face of this island is a world of crevices and crannies, perfect octopus habitat. Seeing this octo up at the surface meant it had been snatched by the seal to eat. And the color of its exposed arm - bright red - says it is angry. GPOs are normally an orangish brown but can change color both for camouflage and to express their mood.
Octopuses are both predators and prey. Since yesterday I've been researching case studies and found two where seals killed and ate octopuses, although in both cases the octopuses were much smaller than the seals. As predators, ordinarily GPOs feed on crabs, fish and shellfish, but I found a case where it captured and ate a gull by holding its head under water, drowning it. Seeing the huge arm and suckers in my photo, I'm pretty sure this octopus was as big as the seal. Could it be fighting back by trying to drag the seal under the surface? My impression is that the seal appears to be working hard to keep its face in the air...but of course nothing definite can be assumed from a few blurry pics.
I fervently hope the GPO put up a vigorous enough fight to discourage the seal, and they disengaged, each going its own way. I have enormous respect and admiration for both these creatures and would be sad if either one died - even though I know this is nature and all animals must eat and escape predators to survive. I will never know what happened on this occasion.
Sources:
> GPO description & natural history
> intelligence
> seal vs octopus in Victoria Harbour
> octopus catching a gull
~
You just never know what you'll see when you go out in nature and observe. There's so much more going on in the world than our human activities. What are you observing where you live, in your natural neighborhood? The Bucket is open.
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 on the Daily Kos front page. It's a great way to catch up on diaries you might have missed. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.