Coconut Flavored Octopus or Octopus Flavored Coconut?
I read an interesting article about the veined octopus, which reinforces the fact that it may be one of the smartest animals in the ocean. Researchers discovered that this octopus is making the most of its surroundings and being quite resourceful about it. They found that the shells of coconuts are used as a mode of transportation by the octopus.
The coconuts are washed from the beach into the sea, picked up by the mollusk, who then carries the shells across the ocean floor. The octopus then combines them back together for a nice little shelter. This strategy allows for a nice makeshift portable home. Bear Grylls from the Discovery Channel would be impressed.
Using foreign objects is not unusual for many animals, but most do not go to the lengths that the octopus does. Like some sort of circus act in the ocean or an episode from Spongebob Squarepants, this octopus uses the coconuts as stilts. The stilts allow it to make a quick getaway when predators are around. After seeing this “stilted” octopus up close, researchers made careful observations noting that they have never laughed so hard in their lives.
Photograph courtesy Roger Steene