Video: Octopus crawls out of water and walks on dry land

[The Straight Story]

Video: Octopus crawls out of water and walks on dry land

Check out this video of an octopus literally crawling out of the water and dragging itself across dry land in pursuit of a meal. A family with a camera was lucky enough to be on the scene and captured the whole thing on video:

If you're curious to learn more about the sea creature's possible motivation, there has been some great research on the understanding of octopus intelligence recently, including this surprisingly moving article in Orion magazine, chronicling a researchers bond with a giant Pacific octopus named Athena.

As it turns out, walking on land in the octopus kingdom is not as unique as you might think:

Some would let themselves be captured, only to use the net as a trampoline. They'd leap off the mesh and onto the floor—and then run for it. Yes, run. "You'd chase them under the tank, back and forth, like you were chasing a cat," Warburton said. "It's so weird!"

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/video-octopus-crawls-water-walks-dry-land-150510810.html

[redqueen]

1. Cephalopods are awesome.

I almost posted this earlier, but then I read that it wasn't so unusual of an occurrence.

[msongs]

2. don't watch it! evolution is a lie I tell you, a lie! nt

[CJvR]

12. At least...

...God put in their retina the right way!

[WCGreen]

3. I was reading about the octopus in a recent article in Science Magazine...

The article was all about their abilities, intelligence and how their central nervous system is splint up and each arm has what is essentially a brain that allows each arm to act in sync or separate.

[Angry Dragon]

16. That means an octopus has 8 times as many brains as all

the republicans running for president put together

[WCGreen]

20. LOL!

[Kaleko]

27. Fantastic.

I didn't know that. Thanks for posting.

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. Perhaps not that unique. I've heard that rush limbaugh can do that, too. nt

[YellowRubberDuckie]

11. Please don't insult the octopi.

They're smarter than Republicans.

[Angry Dragon]

23. What they say

A note on grammar:
Octopuses, not octopi, is now considered the correct plural among the octopus intelligentsia. Octopi has been discarded as the plural because of its Latin ending on a Greek word. The correct plural for applepus, however, is still apple pie.

[Scuba]

5. Very cool. Thanks for posting. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. That's the debbil

It's un-nach-ral!

[FarLeftFist]

7. Our future humanoid inhabitants.

[TheKentuckian]

35. That is why I don't eat them

[Martin Eden]

8. Thanks for sharing! n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. That is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time.

Thanks!

[razorman]

10. I, for one, welcome our new, cephalopod overlords.

[csziggy]

15. A science fiction book that frightened me as a kid

Was written by Andre Norton and set on a Caribbean island. In the book, "Sea Siege", sea creatures pretty much blockade the island and invade it. I realized later that some of the "leader" creatures were octopus.

The Amazon page for the book has a review with a pretty good synopsis of the plot. http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Siege-Andre-Norton/dp/0345343646

[razorman]

28. We are all Cephalopodians now.

[razorman]

29. The books looks interesting. I just requested that it be made available on Kindle.

[csziggy]

34. I doubt that will happen unless Andre Norton or her literary executor

Decides to put her works into the public domain. The book was originally published in the 50s or 60s by Ace, if I remember correctly. Most of Norton's work was published by Ace. Ace is now owned by Penguin Books and I don't know if they have any Kindle books.

If Andre Norton books become available on Kindle that would put me over the edge to buy one!

[KittyWampus]

13. LOL! Comment from video: "While this one was crawling about....

"While this one was crawling about, two others were silently, methodically going through everyone's wallets without being noticed."

[BlancheSplanchnik]

30. Haa! How cute!

There's a vid on YouTube of an octopus stealing a diver's camera and running away with it. Cracks me UP!

[lonestarnot]

14. Ocean intellectuals not unlike our own Octafish!

:hi: Fish!

[Rex]

17. They have been walking on land long before humans.

Good thing they don't know anything about the combustible engine!

[redqueen]

18. Another video...

this one got onto a shrimp boat had some snacks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfuOn3rxdy8&feature=related

[lonestarnot]

21. Only tried to have some snacks, none to be had! Floors spotless!

[redqueen]

22. Well he snuck in in a shrimp trap, I think...

anyway after he helped himself to some prawns, he moved on to a bait jar, opening that up to snack on some shrimp pellets. The crew set him on the desk when he was done to 'escape'. :)

[backscatter712]

26. According to the description, the octopus actually unscrewed the jar!

A poke and a nudge here and there and they could become as smart as people in a few million years.

I, for one, welcome our new cephalopod overlords.

[hunter]

32. When humans have moved on...

... the monolith will return...

cue Also Sprach Zarathustra theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey

[lonestarnot]

31. Tee hee.

:7

[Warren DeMontague]

19. "it's the octopus that crawled back to the sea..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW9mSBQU_88

[Diclotican]

24. The Straight Story

The Straight Story

Interesting.. Now, if the poor octopus are able to live for another million year, it might evolve to the point where it can stand on land too.. The octopus is a smart animal.

Diclotican

[backscatter712]

25. Octopuses are incredibly smart. As are cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish, being fairly closely related to octopuses, are awesome too! Not only do they have surprisingly advanced brains much like the octopus, their skin is like a high-resolution display device it uses for camouflage, for mating displays, and to hypnotize prey with freaky psychedelic displays...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl6GiUdl-s8

[lonestarnot]

33. He was trying to occupy! Thank gawd nobody gassed him.

[JNelson6563]

36. Amazing video!

Better with the sound off, what annoying chatterboxes the humans were!

[tblue37]

37. A comment from that page:

"Octopi wall-street?"

[Donald Ian Rankin]

38. Anyone else read "The Sea Raiders" by H.G. Wells? N.T.

[Balbus]

39. Disgusting.

After the giraffe, the octopus has to be the most creepiest creature on earth.