Pall Sigurdsson is a well-respected diver who stumbled upon a tiny coconut octopus while diving with a few friends in the waters of Lembeh, Indonesia. Sadly, the little cephalopod had discovered a disposable plastic cup and decided to make the dangerous object its new home.[1]
Image Source: YouTube
The curious coconut octopus has a reputation for using shells and other things, including coconut shells, for protecting against predators. This little creature’s plastic cup concerned Sigurdsson, so he decided to broker a life-saving trade.
“While a shell is a sturdy protection, a passing eel or flounder would probably swallow the cup with the octopus in it, most likely also killing the predator or weakening it to a point where it will be soon eaten by an even bigger fish.”[2]
Image Source: YouTube
Sigurdsson decided that he just couldn’t leave the octopus to suffer such a fate. He and his friends took some time to find a new shell, and after trying out a few, they managed to find the tiny octopus the perfect new home.
Image Source: YouTube
All That’s Interesting reports the coconut octopus uses seashells on the ocean floor for protection like the one shown here. They grow up to six inches long, and finding one can be challenging if you don’t look under the right shells.
“We found this particular octopus at about 20 meters under the water, we tried for a long time to give it shells hoping that it would trade the shell. Coconut octopus are famous for being very picky about which shells they keep so we had to try with many different shells before it found one to be acceptable.”
Image Source: YouTube
We are just happy this little octopus and other sea creatures are a little safer thanks to the kind actions of these divers.
You can watch a video showing the adorable trade below.
Thanks for reading. Please be so kind as to pass this story along to your friends and family?
Source:
- “Divers Gently Convince An Octopus To Trade His Plastic Cup For A Seashell” The Rain Forest Site.
- “Meet The Coconut Octopus, The Coconut-Carrying, Bipedal Cephalopod” All That’s Interesting.