A very friendly giant Pacific octopus gave a group of divers in Campbell River a thrill of a lifetime recently.

The group, lead by Andrea Humpreys, spent 40 minutes with the approximately 10-foot, tentacle-tip-to-tentacle-tip octopus which was not shy at all.

B次元官网网址淵eah, I was out with four dive buddies. One of them was visiting here from across the country and has never seen an octopus,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said. B次元官网网址淎nd so IB次元官网网址檓 quite familiar with the dive site and said, B次元官网网址榊eah, letB次元官网网址檚 go find octopus!B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Even though she know about the site, and she had seen octopus there before, she was surprised by how quickly they found one that day on Oct. 15 near the Argonaut Wharf.

B次元官网网址淚 found it within two minutes sitting kind of in shallow, 10-feet of water out in the open. In kind of a bit of kelp,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said. B次元官网网址淎nd it was unexpected. Like, I was not expecting to find it right there.B次元官网网址�

She called her group over and giving the octopus space, observed and photographed it.

B次元官网网址淭hen all of a sudden, it started to climb all over the guy that had never seen octopus before,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said. B次元官网网址淪o that was really amazing.B次元官网网址�

It climbed up his body and onto his face, over his mask and regulator. Then it climbed down and so Humphreys moved into position for some photos and video which attracted the octopusB次元官网网址� attention. It glommed onto her and started climbing onto her. She used her camera system to keep the animal at bay. Needless to say, she got great video footage. Some of her recording was made into a which has started to go viral, as they say. That video captures something like the fifth or sixth time the octopus latched onto her.

B次元官网网址淚t had climbed on my camera like a bunch of times and at one point it was on my body, like, kind of engulfed over my stomach area giving me a hug,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said. B次元官网网址淭he only exposed part of my body was my mouth and several times it had a tentacle up over my mouth and my regulator; on my lip and I could feel it, like, sucking in the suckers on my lip.

B次元官网网址淥h, yeah, it was insane.B次元官网网址�

You can see in the video that at one point Humphreys actually tried to back away from the animal but it was having none of that.

B次元官网网址淥bviously, I wasnB次元官网网址檛 approaching it at all, and it was approaching me and so (I kept) backing away from it, and it just, it would ignore everybody else and it would just come towards me; wouldnB次元官网网址檛 leave me alone for 40 minutes, which I was fine with,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said.

Although she was fine with the octopusB次元官网网址� attention, you can hear in the video how exciting the encounter was.

B次元官网网址淵ou can hear my amazement and excitement in the video when IB次元官网网址檓, like, screaming and talking into my regulator,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said.

Seeing an octopus at the site was nothing new. Humphreys knows of at least 15-20 octopus in that area. Usually, they are hiding in their dens, especially the giant Pacific octopus. More often, you would see the smaller ruby octopus.

The octopusB次元官网网址� behaviour was a bit unusual and explanations for it have included this being the mating season and perhaps it was interested in its reflection in the camera. Humphreys is not so sure about that, though, given how small the lens is.

But that animal, by all signs, did not seem to be in distress or upset. Often when they are upset, they turn a grey colour B次元官网网址� octopus can change colour to match their surroundings and mood, much like a chameleon B次元官网网址� but this one maintained its red colouring and obviously wasnB次元官网网址檛 trying to hide. They also eject B次元官网网址渋nkB次元官网网址� when theyB次元官网网址檙e feeling threatened and trying to make an escape, which this one didnB次元官网网址檛 do either.

One of the cool things about the video, Humphreys said, is that you donB次元官网网址檛 often get to see underneath an octopus but in her video you get a clear look at the underside with suckers in full view.

Humphreys moved to Campbell River three years ago and teaches in the school district. She is an experienced diver and is enjoying the local diving scene.

B次元官网网址淟ove it up here. ItB次元官网网址檚 exceptional; world class diving up here.B次元官网网址�

Especially when the locals are so friendly.

B次元官网网址淓nded up with an octopus hickey on my lip, actually,B次元官网网址� Humphreys said.

editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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