Octopus Encounter

From previous trips we know that Australia is home to the most colorful, fascinating, and just plain cool animals, but nothing quite prepared us for an octopus encounter yesterday at Newcastle Beach.  

Dave and I were standing in shallow water exploring rock pools at low tide when I felt a strange sort of sucking sensation on my foot.  I looked down and there was an octopus arm reaching out from under a rock exploring my foot!

Though I pulled my foot back, the octopus’s touch was gentle and not at all scary, just a little surprising. As we continued to watch, the curious critter stretched an arm up along the rocks and out of the water.

 And then I felt another strange sucking sensation – it was a second octopus under the next rock!   

We watched both octopi for a long time and Dave bravely offered up his own foot for further octopus exploration.  Again, the touch was gentle, and though Dave could easily withdraw his foot, he said the suckers really held on tight.

A dead crab floated by on the water and we decided to see what would happen if we put it next to the octopi. 

Sure enough, one of them quickly grabbed ahold of the crab and pulled it back towards its mantle. It sucked it well into its body but then suddenly ejected it.  Apparently octopi prefer fresh crab.

Then the second octopus, which seemed a bit more curious and bold than the other one, came all the way out of his hidey-hole and started to swim away.

It’s hard to put into words how marvelous this experience was for Dave and me.  We observed the octopi for at least 45 minutes and the whole thing was absolutely fascinating.  We were thrilled and amazed to have this rare opportunity to interact with such unique and almost otherworldly wild animals.