British Columbia scuba diver Andrea HumphreysB次元官网网址� new acquaintance greeted her more like a long-lost friend, with extended arms, then a full-body hug, and finally a kiss, lip to tentacle.

HumphreysB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渕ind-blowingB次元官网网址� encounter was with a giant Pacific octopus.

The schoolteacherB次元官网网址檚 video of the rare moment with the creature, in three-meter-deep water off Campbell River on the of Vancouver Island, has gone viral.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been diving for 12 years. I have never had that. It was just mind-blowing, and it was so incredible,B次元官网网址� said Humphreys, who has done more than 675 dives around the world but describes her interaction with the octopus as the experience of a lifetime.

On Oct. 15, Humphreys and two other locals were with a fifth diver who had never seen an octopus on a dive.

B次元官网网址淪o, our goal was to find that person an octopus and we geared up and got in the water. And within three minutes, I found this octopus that was just sitting there, out in the open,B次元官网网址� said Humphreys.

Humphreys and her friends tried to give the octopus some space while they snapped photos. She estimated its size at more than three meters, tentacle to tentacle, with a body bigger than a basketball.

But the octopus had other ideas.

It started crawling towards HumphreysB次元官网网址� friend who had never before seen an octopus, then it greeted Humphreys with its body and tentacles fully engulfing her camera.

B次元官网网址淚ts tentacles were reaching through the camera to feel my face and then at some point, it had crawled on my body, on my hips, and was giving me a hug,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淎nd it had tentacles up and around my mouth and it was sucking on my lip, which is the only exposed part of my body,B次元官网网址� said Humphreys, who captured the whole interaction on video, complete with her B次元官网网址渟queals of excitement.B次元官网网址�

She said such close interaction with divers is rare from a giant Pacific octopus, which scientists rank as highly intelligent.

B次元官网网址淭his was definitely not a normal encounter with the octopus,B次元官网网址� said Humphreys.

B次元官网网址淭ypically, when we find octopuses, they are in their dens, so like hiding in little cracks, crevices, under rocks and open logs. So, to have it sitting out in the open was pretty rare.B次元官网网址�

Humphreys said she hopes the story of her encounter raises awareness of the beauty of marine life and the importance of protecting the underwater environment.

She said students in her class found the video and were asking her questions about it, B次元官网网址渟o, the excitement is definitely there.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址�(IB次元官网网址檓) just hoping I can make people, through this video, aware of what lives under the sea and how our effects can be so harmful.B次元官网网址�

Humphreys said she looks forward to revisiting the same diving site, hoping to find the octopus again to renew their acquaintance.

B次元官网网址� By Nono Shen in Vancouver

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press B次元官网网址 Fellowship.

The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .