Getting Nauti With One of Our Favorite Sea Creatures - The Octopus

March 3, 2017 John Russell

Getting Nauti With One of Our Favorite Sea Creatures - The Octopus

As you can tell, we here at Getting Nauti love everything about the ocean—whether diving, fishing, surfing, sailing, or just hanging out on a beach, we love it! Heck, the slight whiff of a sea breeze can turn us catatonic with regard to other aspects of life, like say work. Makes sense, though, as didn’t all earth’s life originate from the sea?

Speaking of which, we’re fond of the ocean’s critters, too. You know, nothing like a fresh-caught yellow-fin tuna lightly seared and crusted with a dusting of sesame seeds and side of wasabi.

And yes, we enjoy living sea creatures, as well. In fact, we take great joy any time we witness sea life in its natural habitat. Which is why sea creatures are so predominantly featured in our jewelry and clothing lines.

Take, for example, our octopus pendant or titanium octopus ring. Some people might think that octopuses are creepy or scary, and why not as an octopus pretty much looks like a shape-shifting blob that wants to wrap you up in its eight tentacles to suck the life out of you with those suction cup-like things while pecking at you with its beak.

And, come on, tentacles? Beak? Any critter sporting tentacles is a creepazoid, right? And what’s with the beak?

Actually, while octopuses do have beaks, its appendages are technically known as “arms,” not “tentacles.” No matter, as whatever the case, we think the octopus is one of the coolest creatures in the sea—way cool! And super smart, too. In fact, it’s walnut-size main brain can probably problem solve faster than you can figure out whether two plus two plus two times zero equals six or zero.

Wait a minute, “main brain?”

Yep, and along with that central processing brain there are eight other ganglion-like brains at the base of each tentacle. All of which probably explains why octopuses can figure out mazes; open various containers; use tools; construct fortifications (known as octopuses’ gardens); mimic other animals; and learn, utilize and remember new behaviors. Scientists have also determined that octopuses have distinct individual personalities, and appear to have emotional temperaments such as anger, fear and happiness, the latter being observed in their occasional propensity to play with toys.

Along with those nine brains an octopus has three hearts and its body is comprised of 90 percent muscle. And lacking any bones, even a large octopus can use those muscles to squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter. Noted escape artists, aquarium octopuses have been discovered slipping out of their tanks in order to feed on fish in other tanks…and then returning to their own tanks as if nothing had happened.

An octopus can easily hide from predators and prey by camouflaging its skin to match the colors and patterns of the surrounding seabed. If that fails to fool the predator, an octopus can shoot out a blast of ink to hinder a its sight and sense of smell, and then hightail it out of there with its eight arms propelling it at speeds up to 25 mph, which represents some serious underwater horsepower. Oh, and if all else fails, the octopus can afford to lose an arm or two, as its appendages grow back with no ill-effect if lost to predator teeth or otherwise.

What’d ya think? Could you pull off any of these tricks?

And finally, we love octopuses because they are complete badasses. You probably think that sharks are the baddest mofos in the sea. Hah, let an octopus and a shark engage in a little cage fighting and the octopus might take that toothed shredding machine down. At least, that’s what scientists and aquarium workers have discovered in recent years.

Take the Seattle Aquarium, for example, which made the mistake of introducing an octopus into a larger tank with sharks and other big fish. The aquarium workers hadn’t been worried about the sharks, and were more concerned about the octopus becoming shark food. Nevertheless, they believed that the octopus would be safe from predation via its camouflage. Well, after sharks started to disappear and a few carcasses were found tucked away here an there in the tank, aquarium workers set up a camera and discovered that their octopus had been taking the sharks out one by one. This reversal of expected fate has also been observed in the wild by divers and scientists.