Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Octopuses! Buckets! Oh My!


       I have this… personality quirk that makes me dive headlong into things before I think about them.
       The latest of these episodes involved an octopus; Sam and I were outside, looking at the water when he spotted the beastie. As the creature was not far from shore, I immediately turned tail and ran for my fish net and rubber boots.  On my way back out the door I collected a four gallon bucket as well.
       I knew almost immediately upon entering the water that I was going to get my feet wet. The octopus was juuuust out of the range of my boots.  I rolled up my pant legs and continued my careful wading until I was close enough to try and scoop/herd the octopus into the bucket with my net.
The octopus, not pleased at being disturbed, let loose a cloud of ink and disappeared. It was a very exciting few seconds because he did two things, he splashed me with ink, & he quickly changed directions and came towards me.
        I might have yelled.
        A little bit.
     In my mind, there two categories of sea creatures: those who rely on speed to survive, and those that rely on camouflage. Octopuses rely on the latter, but it wasn’t long before I spotted him again, slowly squishing himself under a rock. Determined to catch him, I tried again and managed to scoop him into the bucket.
       This isn't the first time we've seen octopuses in the bay, Johanna and I first spotted one a few years ago when we were wading. Throughout the year we see divers with harpoons hunting them and other sea creatures. The other week Dad spotted some men who were fishing for pleasure and had caught an octopus. If I'd wanted to I could have taken my octopus to Gelibolu and sold him to one of the fish restaurants. 

         Throughout the time I had him in the bucket, my octopus tried to escape –  you’ll see that in the video that is coming soon.  And these things come bigger?! 
- Nicole

(Picture cred: Mom or Dad)