[Featured]: Octopus living in groups and more stuff

[jugglematt]

Hi Folks
exciting stuff with the NY Times article. about our unique octopus site .
from a post i put up on tonmo a number of years ago , significant things have happened, in a good way .

without tonmo i probally never would have made the inital contact with PGS and then david Scheel , and Stefan ... so well done. to this forum and the moderator.
i have really enjoyed working with people from a totally different background , . it has been a great learning exeperence .

i still love visiting octopolus . as i never know what will happen or how the occys will behave . and as ive said in previous posts their moods can change . for no aparent reason .

i thought id scare some recent pics from a dive i did at Nelson bay. we came across a blue lined octopus that seemed quite excited , i managed to get a few pics , but all the time i was shooting him i had to back peddle , as the plucky little guy was swiming straight for me . at one stage he even landed on the lense of my camera . very interstering . while this was going on i was a bit distracted .
you can understand my suprise when i turned away from the occy to seem my dive buddy swiming up to the occy , glove removed , and was just about to try and touch and play with the blue lined octopus !!!

i very quickly gave signals of danger , dont touch , ect and when we got out from our dive , i explained to her the potential danger of blue lined octopus .

anyway alls well that ends well.
Regards
Matt

 

[DWhatley]

I am glad your dive buddy understood your signals before he reached the octopus. Your helicopter trip to the decompression chamber was enough diving excitement for me to read for a lifetime! More pictures coming?

 

[tonmo]

without tonmo i probally never would have made the inital contact with PGS and then david Scheel , and Stefan ... so well done. to this forum and the moderator.

Congrats on the awesome coverage -- and thank you for acknowledging the community, and for being a part of it!

 

[pgs]

As Matt says, all the science at the Octopolis site came initially out of Matt's TONMO posts. Crissy Huffard (mucktopus on TONMO) told me about Matt's posts and I got in touch with him. Then David Scheel saw an article about it, over in Alaska, and he contacted me. Now Stefan Linquist is on the team also.

 

[jugglematt]

aan image of the blue lined occy on the sand

 

[jugglematt]

and one blue lined octopus , with a bad attitude .

 

[DWhatley]

@jugglematt Is the last one on your lens or did he/she rear up at you on the sand?

 

[jugglematt]

in the last pic , the occy is still coming at me , after lifting off the sand and becoming free swiming again. i have pics of him stuck to my camera , but all are out of focus , due to the somewhat close nature of the subject.

when at first found the little guy , he was swiming mid water , coloured up and quite excited

 

[tonmo]

@jugglematt - these are great pics!

When is the next trip to octopolis?

 

[DWhatley]

I happened upon an article with a picture of a blue ring (not lined) in a similar "attack" like posture on the sand here (scroll down a bit from the initial text).

 

[jugglematt]

Thats a fantastic article
did yousee the shots of the mating blue ringd octopus .
Mating Blue-Ringed Octopus: Story Behind the Shot

amazing stuff

no octopolus visits of late , the wheather gods have been against us

Regards
matty

 

[DWhatley]

Great find! I posted a link on our Facebook page!

 

[tonmo]

This site is the gift that keeps on giving! @junglematt @pgs

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...are&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

 

[tonmo]

 

[tonmo]

This thread is referenced in this article

Researchers have found an 'octopus village' off Australia that reveals the creatures' social side