General Question

Theby's avatar

Have you ever seen an octopus come out of the water onto land?

Asked by Theby (998points) December 26th, 2009

I was sitting right beside the water in a bay a few years ago. The water started churning about 2 metres away and an octopus started sliding out of the water right near my feet. It was not fully grown and was bright red. I had some bread sitting beside me because I had been feeding ducks. The octopus felt my shoes with it’s tentacles and then went straight to the bread. It gathered some up, pushed it underneath itself and then returned to the water! When I told people about this no-one believed me. I can’t be the only one this has happened to, can I?

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12 Answers

delirium's avatar

Totally common. They often leave the water to snatch crabs and the like.

They’re exceptionally smart. I would not be surprised if one did something like that.

They have reputations in aquariums for breaking out of their cages and sneaking in to neighbors’ to eat them.

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JustPlainBarb's avatar

I’ve never seen that! Wow, that must have been surprising. Those are horrible looking!!!

delirium's avatar

They are not horrible! They’re in-fucking-credible! Cephalopods are some of the most fascinating and gorgeous animals on this planet.

marinelife's avatar

I once found a small octopus in a tidepool. It seemed to be getting warm in the tidepool from the sun so we put a shell partially over the octopus to shade it.

AstroChuck's avatar

Wow! Really cool story!

troubleinharlem's avatar

That is so amazing. :o
Next time, take me with you when you go to feed ducks.

syz's avatar

Cool! I’ve seen video of research animals stealthily leaving their own tanks after hours, when the researchers are gone for the day. They climb into nearby tanks, eat the crabs there, and then return to their own tanks before they are discovered. The researchers set up cameras because they couldn’t figure out what was happening to all of the crabs.

Hexr's avatar

no i haven’t. i do not have the privilege of living near the ocean unfortunately

GeorgeGee's avatar

It’s pretty common actually. Anyone who has ever kept them will tell you, they’re hard to keep contained; they love to get out of their tanks. They’re smart and mischievous.

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