In recognition of Octopus Week at the Seattle Aquarium, I’m putting up a few videos for your entertainment and education. I’m posting this “Amusing Monday” early, so you can review the list of events at the Seattle Aquarium beginning this weekend.
First, before getting to the serious stuff, I’d like to start with an animated short film, “Oktapodi.” The film started out as a graduate school project by a team of French animators from Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image. The production was nominated for an Academy Award during last year’s presentation and won numerous honors at film festivals.
The YouTube version here is OK, but if you want to see the film
in full quality and can wait for the video to download, visit the
official Oktapodi Web site and view the QuickTime version.
Back to the real world, check out this BBC video showing a diver up close with a giant Pacific octopus.
Elsewhere, the so-called mimic octopus is a fascinating creature, as shown in this video shot in Indonesia.
Finally, completing the tour, here’s a video from the Seattle Aquarium Web, which includes this sea creature as well as others.
Hey Chris,
My kids loved Oktipodi! Even better than the mimic, I think, is another Indonesian octopus that now can claim to be the first tool-using invertebrate. It uses coconut shells for defense:
video —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoWdHOtlrk
back story —
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091214-octopus-carries-coconuts-coconut-carrying.html
8 thumbs up!
Thanks, Scott. I have seen that video, but I forgot about it. An octopus using a coconut shell for protection seems to be a pretty amazing use of a tool.
UPDATE: KOMO News 4 was at the Seattle Aquarium when a male and a female octopus were placed in the same tank. With some luck, there will be lots of little ones swimming around.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/84383762.html?tab=video