- Joined
- Sep 25, 2006
- Messages
- 572
I don't know if this is the best place for this story, because it comes from the bad old days when a "pet" octopus was inconceivable, but they sure were tasty. It involves catching octopus for food, and treating them roughly, so be warned:
My dad grew up in Southern California and started snorkeling, freediving, and spearfishing in about 1937 (when he was 14). He and his friend (Conrad (Connie) Limbaugh, later of Scripps) taught themselves everything, since essentially nobody ever went underwater in those days. Masks and fins were not commercially available (Dad and Connie made their own masks out of coffee cans and rubber at a local tire shop, and had black rings on their faces all summer). They would take fish, abalone, and somtimes bimac octopus (nonvenomous), for food, and they developed a trick to keep from getting bitten by the octopus. He told me that when underwater (holding their breath) they would quickly slip their thumb into one of the holes in the mantle (where the siphon comes out), and "flip" the mantle inside-out in one motion by pushing the mantle out through the hole where their thumb was. That would instantly incapacitate the octopus which could be easily stuffed into a mesh bag. Over the next few years my dad got good at this trick, and at everything else they were doing in the water, and the advent of commercially available masks and fins made everything easier. In 1942, when my dad was 18 he was drafted into the Army Air corp and became a navigator on a transport plane, island hopping in the Pacific. He was probably the first person with a mask and fins to dive most many of the pacific islands (Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Okinawa)). He spent the most time on Saipan/Tinian, eventually going out diving and fishing with the natives, which is probably where this happened. One day he was diving with some locals when he saw an octopus. He did his flip trick without thinking much about it, and bagged it. The eyes of the local guys got big, and they were clearly impressed with his little octopus catching trick, so he did it a few more times, just to impress them. Later, back on shore, he found out that the locals were impressed because they knew that the octopus my dad been "flipping" were poisonous, and they all avoided them. ("oh")
My dad died about 12 years ago, long before I started keeping octopus, but recently I wondered if the "poisonous" octopus my dad had played with could have been the blue ringed octopus. I checked their range, and many of the islands south of japan, where my dad dove during the war, were included in their range.
Does anyone know if there are any other species of octopus that live in that area which are poisonous enough to intimidate the local fishermen and make a hero out of a guy who is "brave" enough to juggle them? Do blue ringed octopus get large enough to "flip" inside out with your fingers? (don't try it, just speculate).
My dad grew up in Southern California and started snorkeling, freediving, and spearfishing in about 1937 (when he was 14). He and his friend (Conrad (Connie) Limbaugh, later of Scripps) taught themselves everything, since essentially nobody ever went underwater in those days. Masks and fins were not commercially available (Dad and Connie made their own masks out of coffee cans and rubber at a local tire shop, and had black rings on their faces all summer). They would take fish, abalone, and somtimes bimac octopus (nonvenomous), for food, and they developed a trick to keep from getting bitten by the octopus. He told me that when underwater (holding their breath) they would quickly slip their thumb into one of the holes in the mantle (where the siphon comes out), and "flip" the mantle inside-out in one motion by pushing the mantle out through the hole where their thumb was. That would instantly incapacitate the octopus which could be easily stuffed into a mesh bag. Over the next few years my dad got good at this trick, and at everything else they were doing in the water, and the advent of commercially available masks and fins made everything easier. In 1942, when my dad was 18 he was drafted into the Army Air corp and became a navigator on a transport plane, island hopping in the Pacific. He was probably the first person with a mask and fins to dive most many of the pacific islands (Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Okinawa)). He spent the most time on Saipan/Tinian, eventually going out diving and fishing with the natives, which is probably where this happened. One day he was diving with some locals when he saw an octopus. He did his flip trick without thinking much about it, and bagged it. The eyes of the local guys got big, and they were clearly impressed with his little octopus catching trick, so he did it a few more times, just to impress them. Later, back on shore, he found out that the locals were impressed because they knew that the octopus my dad been "flipping" were poisonous, and they all avoided them. ("oh")
My dad died about 12 years ago, long before I started keeping octopus, but recently I wondered if the "poisonous" octopus my dad had played with could have been the blue ringed octopus. I checked their range, and many of the islands south of japan, where my dad dove during the war, were included in their range.
Does anyone know if there are any other species of octopus that live in that area which are poisonous enough to intimidate the local fishermen and make a hero out of a guy who is "brave" enough to juggle them? Do blue ringed octopus get large enough to "flip" inside out with your fingers? (don't try it, just speculate).
Correction made Roy. I am so fond of the book that the error is embarassing.
