Octopus at Little Hickory
Rhonda picked up this OCTOPUS on Monday at low tide and walked it to the water to help him survive. This past Saturday, I saw several octopuses washed up on the beach at low tide too. Here’s a video of one of those poor guys stranded up on the beach as I picked him up with a PEN SHELL to carry him to safety.
If the video doesn’t work properly, you can view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ya523EEhg
I’d have done the same…poor little guys…
Wow, what an amazing little creature!! I have seen so much and learned so much from your website, Pamela!!! Thanks!!!
I hope he made it!!!
He looks so tiny in comparison to the pen shell! That rescue was awesome! Thank you, from from one sea lover to another.
Did it swim away?
He was too cool! When we were there in August I emptied out my bags of shells to look at them and there was a perfect little octopus looking at us! It was really cool, first time I had ever seen one in all the years going there! We put him back too!
you are a HERO! too cool!
I saw several during low tide myself, saved all I could also!! I think it’s so cool that they are cameleons! A little girl showed me one in a cockle and it was half tan and half maroon just like the shell…she moved him over to the maroon side and he changed to match!! Thanks Pam for the pics and videos! You’re a great reporter!!
Pam, as you probably know, that is the Atlantic Pigmy Octopus (aka Octopus joubini), http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=287 . Many people do not realize that octopi are also mollusks. It is a cephalopod, another of the five classes of mollusks. We have seen a number of them on Sanibel Island during the past week or two.
I have a bad habit of putting big shells in my swimsuit top when snorkeling and ended up with an octopus in there! Needless to say, we were both pretty surprised, and he was quite happy to make his escape, lol.
Thanks yall for your stories too and info about octopuses (I thought plural was octopi…. but I guess not) and JoJo – so funny! Just don’t put your keys in there- I did that one day and lost them on the beach. What was I thinking?
Pam,
Molly and I saved a few last week too. I have a similar video from our trip of a pigmy octopus that I have been showing to friends and family. They can’t believe it! The beaches of Sanibel are so full of wonderful wildlife and shells!
Thanks,
Jill
I love this post! Thank you so much for sharing. It is a beautiful reminder of a story I heard and wrote a post about a little while back about gratitude and starfish. This really made me smile today and I love the fact that you took the time to save that little guy! God bless you!
http://polkadotpancakes.blogspot.com/2010/09/starfish-and-world-gratitude-day.html
Pam………………I continue to follow your blog and am so grateful for the time and energy you put into it. The November finds are amazing and makes me long to be there more and more each day. May will not come soon enough !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks again for all of your hard work for it is greatly appreciated.
Sanibel Sister Linda