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Until about a week ago, the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium at Skidaway housed one octopus. A single, solitary cephalopod.

Octavius, as she was named by a social media poll, was a curious showoff, putting a tentacle or eight up to the glass to investigate visitors peering into her tank. About a month ago, though, the octopus slowed down and retreated into a rock cave in the corner of her tank. She was barely visible there and rarely ventured out to play with her toys. Then last Tuesday as Aquarium Curator Devin Dumont began to clean her tank he figured out what was going on.

"I noticed this cloud of moving dots and I realized, 'Oh my God, she had babies. There are babies. There are babies everywhere.' And a sort of panic ensued," he said. "I immediately started scooping them out and putting them in buckets and there were just buckets and buckets and buckets full of tiny octopi."

Overnight the aquarium went from having one octopus to having tens of thousands of them. And that number keeps growing as more eggs hatch each day.

Some of the babies have been released into the Skidaway River. Some have been set up in three small nursery tanks behind the scenes. And still others are being raised at the adjacent Shellfish Research Lab, which is already practiced in the art of teeny tiny aquaculture from growing out oysters from the larval stage.

Female octopi can store sperm for weeks and lay eggs when the conditions are right. Dumont didn't know the sex of Octavius when the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston entrusted him with the care of the wild-caught animal on Aug. 8. In retrospect, though, he can see that her period of inactivity signaled she had decided the conditions in her tank were right for motherhood.

On Tuesday the latest batch had just hatched and were swirling in a vortex in Octavius' tank. That's behavior oyster larvae exhibit, too; it's thought to be in response to some chemical or physical cue. Each hatchling was just barely visible to the naked eye; together they looked like a shaken snow globe.

Under a microscope, the babies' stumpy legs become visible, eight clear appendages protruding from each big-eyed, bulbous body. Their color-changing organs, called chromatophores, look like freckles as they jet propel themselves around in a glass dish.

Raising them in captivity offers few guarantees. Assistant Curator Lisa Olenderski said the most definitive article she could find on the subject ended with "Good luck. You'll need it."

As for Octavius, her offsprings' beginning signals her end. This common species of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, lives up to about 18 months, and the females typically die after their eggs hatch.

"The mother will protect the eggs in her den and waft or aerate or fluff them," Dumont said. "After they're all done hatching out she dies shortly after. She gives the last part of her life to her kids to protect them."

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'There are babies everywhere': Octopus at Aquarium at Skidaway comes with surprises inside

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Until about a week ago, the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium at Skidaway housed one octopus. A single, solitary cephalopod.Octavius, as she was named by a social media poll, was a curious showoff, putting a tentacle or eight up to the glass to investigate visitors peering into her tank.

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by Margaret Simon

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So! It's the last day of #OctopusMonth ... and it's Halloween! Which is kind of perfect, as octopuses are masters of disguise, and this is, of course, a dress-up holiday. Here is our last poem of the month, a zeno by Margaret Simon:

Changing color camouflaging

Thank you, Margaret! I love that broken "mimic/ry," and I know Agnes does, too. :) In fact, Agnes has a message for those of us who are parents, teachers, or anyone who works with and loves children:

Watch out for crabs! And other octopuses. (Some of them think they are SO SMART.) If you find the perfect home, make sure it's empty before you move in. And then? Hunt. Sleep. Swim! Remember, you are the reason for everything.

Kids are the reason for everything.

And, in case you were wondering: that seal in the spread has a name, as of last Saturday! I was giving a reading at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and a man asked what was the seal's name. I said, "What your name?" He said, "Phillippe." So, voila! Meet Phillippe! :)

Also, there's a little brother in the book, who is never pictured, only named. His name has an interesting origin, too. A local school asked if I would donate to their school auction a "Character Named for You in a Future Book." Of course I said yes, because what fun! The winner was a young fellow named Jack Henry... so that's the little brother in the book.. Isn't the real Jack Henry adorable?!

So many thanks to everyone for sharing your words and art and hearts with me to celebrate LOVE, AGNES this #OctopusMonth. It's been such fun for me! xo

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What Octopuses Do for Halloween #OctopusMonth

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So! It's the last day of #OctopusMonth ... and it's Halloween! Which is kind of perfect, as octopuses are masters of disguise, and this i...

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by Diane Mayr and Sarah Burns

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It's hard for me to believe that #OctopusMonth is nearly over... today's 2-for-Tuesday features poems with artsy connections. First, here's a cherita from Diane Mayr:

back to the twilight zone

a better fit in so many ways

Oh that twilight zone... it is a great place for a secretive, solitary octopus!

And now, here's one inspired by a piece of art you may recognize from #OctopusMonth twitter feed earlier in the month: Sarah Burns' treasure picked up in Hawaii now has a poem (by Sarah!) to go with it!

This particular Pacific Octopus

glides up from the depths of the sea

into my dining room.

Caught off the coast of Maui,

she is revered for astonishing

All her elegant limbs - count them!

drenched in colored paint

pressed onto this black cloth

as a work of art.

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Octopuses ARE works of art, aren't they? Thank you! See you tomorrow for our final day of #OctopusMonth.

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2 for Tuesday octopus poems by Diane Mayr and Sarah Burns for #OctopusMonth

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It's hard for me to believe that #OctopusMonth is nearly over... today's 2-for-Tuesday features poems with artsy connections. First, here's a cherita from Diane Mayr: back to the twilight zone a better fit in so many ways Oh that twilight zone... it is a great place for a secretive, solitary octopus!

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by Catherine Flynn

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Lurks in the half-light at day's edge.

Arrayed with cinnamon and white stripes,

hiding in ripples of sand.

One minute her boneless arms

are sleek and serpentine as she races

along the sea bed, searching

for a meal of shrimp or crab.

Then she slows with a swish and a swirl,

tentacles fluttering like ribbons

transforms into a sea star.

her sandy burrow to sleep.

A wondrous poem, isn't it? I love ripple and ripples, swish and swirl, those ribbons... this poem would turn anyone into an octopus-lover! Thank you, Catherine. xo

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"The Wondrous Wonderpus" octopus poem by Catherine Flynn #OctopusMonth

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Lurks in the half-light at day's edge. Arrayed with cinnamon and white stripes, hiding in ripples of sand. One minute her boneless arms are sleek and serpentine as she races along the sea bed, searching for a meal of shrimp or crab.

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Parents can't get enough either!

Families of preemie babies who have been through the hospital system might be familiar with the concept of 'Octopus for Preemies', where volunteers would crochet teeny tiny octopus toys, whose tentacles would meet the natural grasp reflex of a preemie baby, helping to soothe them.

Renowned infant toy manufacturer, Nattou has now taken that concept and made it readily available for all parents, not just preemie parents whose babies are now benefiting from the comfort of an octopus style comforter.

Read this next

Cat Law, known as 'Your Pocket Midwife' on Instagram and who currently works in Special Care Nursery spoke with Now To Love and describes exactly how well these toys work.

"I've worked with babies who have received the handmade crocheted octopus by a volunteer group called Octopus for Premmies. Watching them have something to grab onto instead of pulling at wires and tubes is beneficial to both the babies and the nursing staff. The fact that all parents can now access this kind of comforter thanks to Nattou is incredible."
READ NEXT: Most Popular Product for Baby: 2018 Mother and Baby Awards

Tentacles, designed to perfectly meet the natural grasp reflex of a baby serve to soothe and relax a newborn. Reminded of the calmness of being in their mum's belly with an umbilical cord to hold onto, babies are also deterred from attempting to pull out their monitors and tubes.

The unique idea for a octopus-style comforter originated in Denmark, and was known as The Octo Project. Volunteer crocheters donated "Octos" to families with premmies in 16 of the neonatal departments in Denmark with great success.

The concept went global, as the benefits began to show. Benefits like improved breathing, increased regular heartbeats and higher levels of oxygen in the blood.

"Babies will develop that grasp reflex in the womb from about 11 weeks," says Cat. "That reflex continues until about six months of age.

"Mothers can also place the crocheted critter down her top for several hours to cover it with her scent, which adds an additional calming element for babies."

Because previously the octopus toys were provided to hospitals by volunteers, that special kind of comfort was not available to babies who had not been through the system. This new toy means that parents can now find the comforters that midwives love for their children at home.

The Nattou Octopus is available online or in store at Baby Bunting and all other leading baby products stores nationally for only $19.95.

Always remember to observe SIDS safe sleeping guides with the use of this toy.

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Midwives love octopus toys which mimic an umbilical cord

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Parents can't get enough either! Families of preemie babies who have been through the hospital system might be familiar with the concept of 'Octopus for Preemies', where volunteers would crochet teeny tiny octopus toys, whose tentacles would meet the natural grasp reflex of a preemie baby, helping to soothe them.

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by Linda Baie

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Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Kay at A Journey Through the Pages for Roundup.

It's the final Poetry Friday of #OctopusMonth, but please stay tuned next week for poems from Catherine Flynn and Diane Mayr... and a special "Goodbye" from Agnes!

This week it's been an honor to feature:

a look at Oceans: Our Blue Planet (which features a Giant Pacific Octopus)
A 2-for-Tuesday with octo-poems by Linda Mitchell and Pat Cruzan
"The Octopus Way" by Brenda Davis Harsham
Octopus art by Barbara Bell (and a wee 3-hearted poem by me!)

Remember, you can find all of the #Octopus Month links on the Happy Octopus Month padlet.

Today I am delighted to share a friendly octopus who is reaching across the currents to Agnes....
A Journey To Make A Friend
for Irene Latham "Octopus Month"

I plan to meet an octopus

who uses ink in clever ways.

This Agnes composes postcards,

perhaps a newfound kind of play?

I am traveling to greet her,

to learn new ways to use my eight.

It's lonely as an octopus.

I would delight in a new mate.

Though I may never find her near

the west Pacific where I roam,

I have impressed some scientists

for use of tools to make a home.

I gather shells and human glass

to pile a shelter of debris;

Special is a coconut shell,

a favorite just-right place for me.

I'm satisfied my size is right -

3-inch frame, 6-inch arms full-grown.

I can embrace the tightest place;

but when I'm out, bi-pedal home.

I live in sandy, muddy shores.

Because I'm likely to be prey,

I take my meals from dusk to dawn,

daylight's my time for hideaway.

Phenomenal and small and wise,

Agnes (I hope) has read of me.

evolving in the western seas.
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Don't you just love this little guy?! Here is a picture of the veined octopus. Agnes is grateful to Linda for educating her about another octo-species! Friends above and below the waves... yes, life is good. Thank you! xo

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"A Journey to Make a Friend" octopus poem by Linda Baie for #OctopusMonth

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Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Kay at A Journey Through the Pages for Roundup. It's the final Poetry Friday of #OctopusMonth, but please stay tuned next week for poems from Catherine Flynn and Diane Mayr... and a special "Goodbye" from Agnes!

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Interested in Hawaii?

Add Hawaii as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Hawaii news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

Hawaii scientists found two tiny baby octopuses floating on plastic trash they were cleaning up as they monitored coral reefs.

Marine ecologist Sallie Beavers of Kaloko-Honokohau (KAH-loh-koh Hoh-noh-KOH-how) National Historical Park said Wednesday that the octopuses were the size of green peas.

She believes they were likely either day octopus or night octopus, both species commonly found off Hawaii. They can grow to 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) as adults, with arm spans of 3 feet (1 meter.)

Scientists found them months ago, but the U.S. Interior Department highlighted them this week when it posted a photo of one on social media.

Octopus babies hide under logs and other floating debris until they're a few months old. Beavers says one squirted a tiny bit of ink when they released it in the ocean.

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Scientists find tiny baby octopus floating on Hawaii trash

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Hawaii scientists found two tiny baby octopuses floating on plastic trash they were cleaning up as they monitored coral reefs. Marine ecologist Sallie Beavers of Kaloko-Honokohau (KAH-loh-koh Hoh-noh-KOH-how) National Historical Park said Wednesday that the octopuses were the size of green...

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poem by Irene Latham, art by Barbara Bell

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Dream with Three Hearts Octopus poem Irene Latham octopus art Barbara Bell

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Millennium Jazz Orchestra

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Millennium Jazz Orchestra – Octopus part 1 Evolution

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By Brenda Davis Harsham

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A sailing ship tacks her way,
Octopus rides.

Towering tall kelp uncurls,

A diver darts from the shadows,

Sunbeams slant into the depths,
Octopus glides.

Ooh, I love that riding sliding hiding gliding octopus, don't you?! Thank you, Brenda!

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"The Octopus Way" poem by Brenda Davis Harsham #OctopusMonth

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A sailing ship tacks her way, Octopus rides. Towering tall kelp uncurls, A diver darts from the shadows, Sunbeams slant into the depths, Octopus glides. Ooh, I love that riding sliding hiding gliding octopus, don't you?! Thank you, Brenda!

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News from Sputnik
More than 120,000 people attended Lower Hutt's Labour Weekend carnival, HighLight, over the long weekend.

Creepy crawlies, mythical creatures, and the power of the elements occupied Riddiford Garden over the four-night event. There were over 70 installations and performances including Colin the T-Rex, a 40-foot dinosaur built from steel; Crank Zappa, a large, interactive jellyfish; and MEGAThermal, a large globe containing a raging storm, aerial circus, and shadow puppetry.

HighLight Carnival Director Carla Steed says Octopoda, an interactive steampunk octopus created by Amigo & Amigo was a favourite across all age groups. Children and adults beat the drums which controlled the colour and lighting sequence of each tentacle. The Troll Bridge with a loud grumbling troll underneath provided surprise and delight for the younger audience, she says.

Ms Steed says they are blown away by this year's amazing turn out and the support they've received from the local community.

"This year we had more space to utilise allowing us to create themed precincts which have been very well received. The quality of the installations and performances has been phenomenal and so far we have received really positive feedback."

The carnival partnered with Te Omanga Hospice to raise money to help the rebuild of its earthquake-prone building.

Chief Executive of Te Omanga Hospice, Biddy Harford, says she is overwhelmed with the support she has seen from HighLight.

"We are so pleased to be partnered with HighLight and it has been brilliant for raising both awareness and much-needed funds for the rebuild of our earthquake-prone hospice. We loved Colin the T-Rex, the six tonne dinosaur created by Real Steel and Macaulay Metals. It looked fantastic all lit up and now is being auctioned on Trade Me with the proceeds going to Te Omanga. We are very grateful."

Ms Steed says they are looking forward to next year's event which will build on the success of this year.

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Wellington.scoop.co.nz " Steampunk octopus a favourite at Hutt's Highlight carnival

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News from Sputnik More than 120,000 people attended Lower Hutt's Labour Weekend carnival, HighLight, over the long weekend. Creepy crawlies, mythical creatures, and the power of the elements occupied Riddiford Garden over the four-night event.

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contributed by Linda Baie

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by Linda Mitchell & Pat Cruzan

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I didn't know, did you?

she'll squirt you with dye

An off-putting greeting Hiding from you

cephalopod week this June

party quietly alone...in your room

breaking free from enemies

as he dulls the smell sense.

of mimicking surroundings

gracefully, through oceans.

So there's a Cephalopod Week in June, and World Octopus Day in October... but we can celebrate octopuses and their amazing-ness every day in our own backward-swimming way! Thank you, ladies. Agnes is honored by your words. xo

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2 For Tuesday: Octopus Poems by Linda Mitchell & Pat Cruzan #OctopusMonth

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I didn't know, did you? she'll squirt you with dye An off-putting greeting Hiding from you cephalopod week this June party quietly alone...in your room breaking free from enemies as he dulls the smell sense. of mimicking surroundings gracefully, through oceans. So there's a Cephalopod Week in June, and World Octopus Day in October...

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This past weekend my sister and I met at a longtime favorite place: the Tennessee Aquarium. So many thanks to the Aquarium education department for hosting us!

While there we visited the resident octopus and also viewed the IMAX film OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET, narrated by Kate Winslet. The film starts in the tropics and then travels all across the seven seas. Through amazing video footage, narration and music, it reminded us that the ocean is the great wild frontier of our planet, with so much still to be discovered. You can view the trailer on YouTube.

I was spellbound by the early slow-mo footage of giant waves... breathtaking! And yes, there was a segment about a giant Pacific Octopus! It, too, was stunning. Octopuses are so graceful as they move through the deep -- absolutely gorgeous.

So, yes, go see the movie, if it's anywhere near you! And take a look at how at home AGNES looks in the gift shop? :) My sister is an amazing photographer, and she took a lot of pictures during our time at Tennessee Aquarium... I will share as soon as I am able! Meanwhile, here's two pictures from my phone that I adore -- one that's not octo at all... and the other that's 100% octo! Enjoy!

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Movie Monday: OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET for #OctopusMonth

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This past weekend my sister and I met at a longtime favorite place: the Tennessee Aquarium. So many thanks to the Aquarium education department for hosting us! While there we visited the resident octopus and also viewed the IMAX film OCEANS: OUR BLUE PLANET, narrated by Kate Winslet.

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an octopus poem by William Stafford

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I missed World Octopus Day! It was celebrated on October 8--I must have been out to lunch!

It's never too late to celebrate with an Octopus poem and here's one by William Stafford found in Crossing Unmarked Snow: Further Views on the Writer's Vocation [811 STA].

If I Could Be Like Wallace Stevens

The octopus would be my model--
it wants to understand; it prowls
the rocks a hundred ways and holds
its head aloof but not ignoring.
All its fingers value what
they find. "I'd rather know," they say,
"I'd rather slime along than be heroic."

My pride would be to find out; I'd
bow to see, play the fool,
ask, beg, retreat like a wave--
but somewhere deep I'd hold the pearl,
never tell. "Mr. Charley,"
I'd say, "talk some more. Boast again."
And I'd play the banjo and sing.

"I'd rather slime along than be heroic." What a great line!

We have a new book in our children's room by Poetry Friday participant and poet, Irene Latham. The title is Love, Agnes: Postcards from an Octopus [JP LAT]. If you haven't already read it, stop by the Library--it's a fun picture book for kids! While you're at it, borrow Ringo Starr's Octopus's Garden [JP STA] because the mere mention of the title has left you with a day-long earworm! Am I right?

Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up this week from over the border in Massachusetts!

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Poetry Friday--A Belated World Octopus Day!

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I missed World Octopus Day! It was celebrated on October 8--I must have been out to lunch! It's never too late to celebrate with an Octopus poem and here's one by William Stafford found in Crossing Unmarked Snow: Further Views on the Writer's Vocation [811 STA].

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by Carol Varsalona

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When poet Irene Latham wrote a post, Desperately Seeking Octopus Poems and Art #Octo Nation , I knew I had to find out what that was all about. I searched Twitter but did not see a #hashtag for #octopusmonth. As I scanned Irene's blog, I realized that Irene was celebrating her newest release from Millbrook Press/Lerner, Love, Agnes - Postcards from an Octopus . To honor Agnes, she christened October as "Octopus Month" and then, requested some octopus poems and art to post on her blog. That is how Ona Octopus came to be a digital creation.

Thanks Irene, for creating such a fun challenge from the delightful Agnes.

Many people know that I have a grandbaby that I am over the moon about. I decided to write a children's poem to be read to my dear little toddler, Sierra, who is a wonderer at such a young age. Information came from Wonderologist's Wonder of the , How Do You Hide an Octopus? I turned the details into a wonder poem, a poem that emerges from a Wonder of the Day. Because it is nearing Halloween, I decided to add that tiny detail and create my own octopus, Ona, with the Buncee platform. Ona excitedly sent Agnes and all of you a postcard from the deep. My next step will be to record the poem so Sierra can hear her family reading it to her even though we are hours away from her.

Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by a very busy writer, Brenda Harsham, who celebrates autumn with a gorgeous nature photo and a haiku. Stroll over to her to take a peek.

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When poet Irene Latham wrote a post, Desperately Seeking Octopus Poems and Art #Octo Nation , I knew I had to find out what that was all about. I searched Twitter but did not see a #hashtag for #octopusmonth.

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by Lucy Branam

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Back in September, I attended SCBWI Midouth conference, and lo and behold, there was another octopus book in the house! It was ROOF OCTOPUS, there with its author, Lucy Branam (illus. by Rogerio Coelho, brought to us by Sleeping Bear Press). So I invited Lucy to share with us about her new book.

The difficult: I would say the most difficult part about creating Roof Octopus was waiting for it to actually become a physical book.

The release date got changed three times because there were delays involved with getting the artwork finished. It started out having an August 2017 date, then September 2017, then November 2017, and then it was finally marked for release and actually came out on March 1 st , 2018. It was frustrating how it kept being moved, but the wait was worth it.
The delicious: I would call the illustrations by Rogério Coelho delicious. They are so vibrant and full of life. All the colors and details really add to the story. The cover alone is very eye-catching with the big orange octopus and all the blue buildings and background. I could never have created such amazing pictures.

The unexpected: I've surprised myself by how much I have loved presenting my book to children. I've done a few school visits and participated in some Ready to Be Ready summer camps. I enjoy reading it to the kids and talking to them about how my book came about. I get a thrill when I do a brainstorming activity with kids, and I see them using their imaginations and having fun with it. I get happy feelings when someone tells me that they really liked my book.

Anything else: I have acquired a few octopus-themed things since Roof Octopus came about: two stuffed animals, a paperweight, a gold table decoration, socks, an ink stamp, poster, magnet, and even a pair of earrings!

Thank you, Lucy! (I, too, have accumulated some octopus items! So. Much. Fun. :)

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ROOF OCTOPUS by Lucy Branam #OctopusMonth

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Back in September, I attended SCBWI Midouth conference, and lo and behold, there was another octopus book in the house! It was ROOF OCTOPUS, there with its author, Lucy Branam (illus. by Rogerio Coelho, brought to us by Sleeping Bear Press). So I invited Lucy to share with us about her new book.

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by Kay McGriff

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Eleanora is "a lady, but she also likes to eat fish popsicles"

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Eleanora is "a lady, but she also likes to eat fish popsicles"

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She's friendly, but reserved. She likes to play, but she's also dignified. She's a lady, but she also likes to eat fish popsicles.

Her name is Eleanora, and she's a Giant Pacific Octopus.

"We're still getting to know each other a little bit," said Ali Redman, aquarist at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, where Eleanora has made a new home among a kelp forest in an exhibit tank with fish, a pink starfish and a few other invertebrates. "She has a very distinct personality."

Eleanora, who is roughly 2 years old, originally came from the area around Whidbey Island. She had been living at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, where she was helping researchers study the intelligence of the Giant Pacific Octopus. Now, Eleanora is a resident of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center aquarium, where she's being featured in a film that Florian Graner, the underwater documentarian of Sealife Productions, is working on.

Graner will present some of his work at a lecture on "The Octopus Learning Project" at 3 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Fort Worden Chapel as part of the Marine Science Center's "Future of Oceans" lecture series.

"I'm documenting how they're bonding," said Graner, who stops by the aquarium regularly to film Redman feeding Eleanora. "We're trying to test her problem solving and learning capabilities to demonstrate what the Giant Pacific Octopus are really capable of."

The Giant Pacific Octopus is a species that is native to the Pacific Ocean and is commonly found in the Puget Sound. According to National Geographic, the Giant Pacific Octopus grows bigger and lives longer than any other octopus species. The record size of one of these native octopi was 30 feet across and over 600 pounds. Eleanora, at roughly 2 years, is still young, but they usually only live for about five years.

The Giant Pacific Octopus is known for having a higher level of intelligence than most marine species, which complicates how the Marine Science Center takes care of Eleanora.

"There is a lot that goes into the care of any of our animals, but especially octopus because of their higher level of intelligence," Redman said. "Fish don't really do a lot of escaping."

The aquarium had to take into consideration everything from how the tank where Eleanora lives is decorated, how much water goes through it, and how to make a secure lid so Eleanora can't escape, Redman said.

"They're very strong and very smart and they can be out of the water for some length of time," Redman said. "There's all these stories of octopuses getting out of the tank, getting into another tank and getting some fish."

In her tank, Eleanora shares the space with two different species of schooling fish - who try to keep their distance from her, although they like to sneak some of her food occasionally - a giant pink sea star, anemones, a sea cucumber, and a few other marine invertebrates. Every creature at the aquarium is native to the Puget Sound.

"We hope she doesn't eat the things in the tank with her," Redman said, adding that so far, Eleanora seems to prefer eating frozen fish "popsicles."

Eleanora also differs from most marine life in the aquarium because she needs a special "enrichment" program to keep her from getting bored.

"They are so smart, and because we want to encourage her to show off some of those cool behaviors, both for her sake and for visitors' learning abilities, it's important to have a good enrichment program," Redman said. "Enrichment is just a way of giving her something more to do, and that can be in both food-related toys, such as fish frozen inside an ice cube, but it can also be nonfood related, as well. She does enjoy contact with her keepers."

According to Redman, Eleanora will often be found hanging out on the side of her tank, watching passersby and grooming her suckers. She recognizes the people who feed her and enjoy giving them "tickles" with her tentacles. And she tends to be most active in the afternoon, when Redman wakes her up for a snack.

While Graner has been working on filming octopus in the wild, he hopes to see how bonds form between Eleanora and her keepers, like Redman, who work with her daily.

Jonathan Crossman, an intern at the aquarium, has also been helping Redman and Graner with the enrichment program, playing with Eleanora and recording her with a GoPro in the water.

"She's been moving around her exhibit, feeling where everything is, exploring what her new area is," Crossman said. "She likes to play with cold things a lot. Ice cubes work well as a fun little thing that is cold but also isn't food. She plays with that a little bit and then it melts away."

According to Graner, studying the intelligence of octopus in the wild can be difficult because they tend not to be too social.

"Generally they are not social and they retreat into their dens," Graner said. "When they are in an aquarium, they actually become quite social, which is surprising for an animal that is so different from us."

While Redman and Eleanora are still getting to know each other, Redman said she's already started to see Eleanora's personality. She's not scared of people and she likes to play with the toys they have given her, but she's also a bit reserved, said Redman.

To see Eleanora interact with Redman, it's best to stop by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center aquarium in the later hours of the day, when she is most active. Now in their fall hours, the aquarium is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

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Meet Eleanora, PT Marine Science Center's new Giant Pacific Octopus

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She's friendly, but reserved. She likes to play, but she's also dignified. She's a lady, but she also likes to eat fish popsicles. Her name is Eleanora, and she's a Giant Pacific Octopus.

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By Donna JT Smith

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spotted at Cracker Barrel

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Remembering Opal: An octopus mother's story

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Diver Laurynn Evans recalls the bond she formed with an octopus that gave birth to 50,000 hatchlings then died

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Union Hill School (Alabama)

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by Matt F. Esenwine

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by Harry Laing

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Chapter 9 in HOW TO BE A GOOD CREATURE by Sy Mont

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Chapter 9 in HOW TO BE A GOOD CREATURE by Sy Mont

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How brainy is an octopus? | Natural History Museum

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By Michelle Schaub

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"She's a very nice octopus."

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Meet Cleopatra! She's a Giant Pacific Octopus at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.

The octopus encounter allows you to get up close and personal with the cephalopod. The aquarium says she's intelligent and loves to meet new people.

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Cleopatra the octopus loves to meet new people at Oregon Coast Aquarium

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Meet Cleopatra! She's a Giant Pacific Octopus at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. The octopus encounter allows you to get up close and personal with the cephalopod. The aquarium says she's intelligent and loves to meet new people.

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by Buffy Silverman

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Hello, Great Readers of our series! Just In case you haven't visited before, let me tell you a little about A Great Nephew and A Great Aunt. My great nephew, Landon (a sixth-grader) and I (his great aunt) collaborate. I write a poem which he illustrates. We started this collaboration in the fall of 2014 and have had so much fun with it that we decided to invite others along. Landon and I will continue to have a new episode on the second Friday of each month. The other Fridays are filling up quickly with guests.

I have created a page on my website to view all the episodes of A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt. Click HERE to visit the page and enjoy past episodes.

Today it is my pleasure to share a creative collaboration from . . .

Buffy Silverman and Daughter, Emma

From Buffy: When Penny asked me to be a guest on her great-nephew-and-great-aunt blog, I hesitated. My kids are in their twenties-neither one draws anymore, and there are no grandkids, grandnieces, or grandnephews on the horizon. At first I thought I'd pull out some of my son's and daughter's artwork from elementary school and use that for inspiration. Then I realized that my daughter Emma still makes artwork-just not with crayons or markers anymore.

Buffy's Poem

Many thanks to Buffy and Emma for this bee-boppin' collaboration! I think I'd love to attend the Monster Hop 🙂

Meet Emma: Emma Conner is a computer scientist and an avid knitter. When she was a student at Oberlin College, she knitted a monster a day for a winter term project. Emma welcomes inquiries about freelance knitting and website projects.

Meet Buffy: Buffy Silverman is the author of more than seventy nonfiction books for young readers. Her nature-inspired poetry is featured in anthologies and magazines. Visit her online at www.buffysilverman.com. (When Emma was in high school she designed and built Buffy's website. Emma plans to overhaul it as soon as Buffy can decide what she wants changed!)

Thanks to Jama Rattigan for hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Jama's Alphabet Soup. She just happens to be featuring my first published work today-a poem titled Buttons. If you'd like to know more about Poetry Friday, click HERE for an explanation by Renee LaTulippe.

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A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt, Guests-Buffy Silverman and Daughter, Emma

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Hello, Great Readers of our series! Just In case you haven't visited before, let me tell you a little about A Great Nephew and A Great Aunt. My great nephew, Landon (a sixth-grader) and I (his great aunt) collaborate. I write a poem which he illustrates.

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Octopus plays hide & seek with divers; changes colors to blend in

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Meet Squirtensia and read "recognition," an octo-poem

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Meet Squirtensia and read "recognition," an octo-poem

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by Tabatha Yeatts

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have you ever seen octopus shooting inks and change colour

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BOSTON (CBS)- They call him the "octopus whisperer," and for nearly 25 years this 84-year-old has volunteered to work with the eight armed creatures at the New England Aquarium. On Thursday night, he and hundreds of other aquarium volunteers will be honored for their time and commitment. But he'll tell you, getting to know these fascinating sea animals is reward enough.

"As you can see, she's getting playful," says Wilson Menashi, super volunteer at the NE Aquarium as he interacts with Freya, a three year old octopus.

She and Wilson are as close as a human and a sea creature with eight arms can be.

"I'm comfortable with them, and they feel it," Wilson says. He started volunteering at the aquarium after retiring from his engineering career, and immediately got interested in octopus.

"When we first started with the octopus about 23, 24 years ago, nobody dared touched them," he remembers. Wilson became the first volunteer to do that, getting used to the suckers on each tentacle.

"You get a lot of hickeys on your hand. How do you explain a whole armful of hickeys to your wife, but she understood," he says.

And Wilson quickly learned something important.

"They definitely all had entirely different personalities. They're very intelligent. They will react with you and they want something to do," he says.

So Wilson designed several boxes with latches. A crab is placed inside as an incentive, and the octopus figures out how to open them.

"Just to challenge them a little bit. See what they could do," he says.

Marine biologist Bill Murphy studies the creatures. "Wilson really enjoys their intelligence and interacting with them. And it's very different from octopus to octopus, so it always keeps it new and interesting," Murphy says.

And Wilson plans to keep on, "As long as I can," he says.

The Aquarium has about 1,000 volunteers essential to the operation. At the dinner to honor them, Wilson will be front and center.

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84-Year-Old 'Octopus Whisperer' Among Aquarium Volunteers To Be Honored

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BOSTON (CBS)- They call him the "octopus whisperer," and for nearly 25 years this 84-year-old has volunteered to work with the eight armed creatures at the New England Aquarium. On Thursday night, he and hundreds of other aquarium volunteers will be honored for their time and commitment.

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from Mrs. Simon's Sea

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by Michele Krueger

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What an octopus can teach us about being human

Eight years ago, I went to Corsica with my now wife. I had brought my old...

Eight years ago, I went to Corsica with my now wife. I had brought my old snorkel and mask, and while she sat and read novels on a sunlounger I would pootle around the cool Mediterranean waters. Our hotel was on a headland; to the west was a rocky shore, the bottom plunging away, with teeming shoals of multicoloured fish. To the east was a great sandy bay. The beach was filled with sunbathing French families, but to a first glance, the bay itself was a desert.

That wasn't true, of course; there was lots of life; at one point a ray scooted past me. But it felt featureless. I had been swimming around it for half an hour when I spotted a large rock underwater, a short swim away. It was the only thing breaking the monotony of the sea floor, so I swam closer, and saw a small hollow underneath. Around the hollow were dozens of empty clam shells. I swam down, and from under the rock, a pair of eyes - alien yet oddly human - stared back at me, nervously.

The author deploys octopuses, so different from humans, as a way into human consciousness

It was a common octopus. I'd love to say that I felt a connection, two intelligences communicating across half a billion years of evolution, but I'd probably be lying. Still, I was fascinated by it; I stayed there for some minutes, repeatedly duck-diving back down to stare once more into its lair.

In his book Other Minds: the Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life, the philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith describes many similar (but more impressive) experiences; indeed one of my lasting impressions of the book is the feeling of sharp and bitter envy that Godfrey-Smith has somehow made a career out of arguing about philosophy and snorkelling with octopuses around the coast of New South Wales. The book argues that cephalopods - octopuses, and their close relatives squid and cuttlefish - are the closest thing to alien intelligence that we will meet on Earth.

There are plenty of other quite bright animals around. Chimps, dolphins, dogs; some birds are surprisingly intelligent. But all of them are fairly closely related to us. The common ancestor of all of them lived, says Godfrey-Smith, about 320 million years ago. It would have looked a lot like a smallish lizard. It would have had four limbs and a head, and lived on land. Its brain would have had many of the same features that ours have. It had already taken many steps down the path towards an intelligence like ours. Almost all of its descendants, mammals, birds and reptiles, are relatively clever.

But the common ancestor we share with cephalopods, Godfrey-Smith points out, was much earlier - at least 600 million years ago - and much simpler. It was most likely a flattened worm-like thing a few millimetres long. It may have had a basic nervous system, it may have had light-sensitive patches as precursors to eyes. But it certainly was not "intelligent". One branch of its descendants included the lizard-like thing that led to us; another includes all the molluscs, snails, clams, slugs and so on. In only one tiny sub-branch, the cephalopods, did impressive intelligence evolve, entirely separately from our own.

The book looks in fascinating detail at the research establishing the extent and nature of cephalopod intelligence. An octopus's intelligence, he says, is more distributed than ours - each arm has a separate sub-brain, with some autonomy. They can communicate, in extraordinary changes of colour; they are curious and inquisitive, and have distinct personalities, including what seems very like a mischievous streak.

Godfrey-Smith uses their alien minds as a framework and means of illumination for what it means to be intelligent, and to have a "self", unitary and bounded - if an octopus has eight sub-brains part-controlling its arms, does it have eight sub-personalities? How much is our own experience of a unitary self an illusion, if large parts of our own actions are (as they are) similarly outsourced to subroutines and automated processes?

Godfrey-Smith uses their alien minds as a framework and means of illumination for what it means to be intelligent

By deploying octopuses, so different from humans, as a way into human consciousness he makes the book into something quite profound: about what it means to have an inner life, what it "feels like" to be something. He discusses psychological and philosophical theories of consciousness, from William James and David Hume to Daniel Dennett and Thomas Nagel, and by looking at the ways that octopuses behave and react to stimuli - including pain - is able to say something new and interesting about what it means to be human.

But it is not just a philosophical exercise. He very obviously cares deeply for the cephalopods, and has spent a lot of time in their world; he get to know, almost "befriends", several, and is wounded by their deaths. Unusually, among intelligent creatures, octopuses are short-lived, only reaching a year or two: my Corsican friend is long dead, a fact I realised reading this book, and which I found surprisingly saddening. But I also know that my fascination, as I stared into its familiarly alien eyes, was entirely justified.

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What an octopus can teach us about being human - UnHerd

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Eight years ago, I went to Corsica with my now wife. I had brought my old snorkel and mask, and while she sat and read novels on a sunlounger I would pootle around the cool Mediterranean waters. Our hotel was on a headland; to the west was a rocky shore, the bottom plunging away, with ...

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Post with 1442 votes and 679729 views. Tagged with aww, octopus; Shared by aloofloofah. Playful octopus loves head scritches

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Why We're Sucker for the Giant Pacific Octopus

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Why We're Sucker for the Giant Pacific Octopus

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Why We're Suckers for the Giant Pacific Octopus

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by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

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octopus art contributed by Sarah (art found in Hawaii)

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octopus art contributed by Sarah (art found in Hawaii)

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words by Irene Latham, illus. by Thea Baker (Millbrook Press)