Marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton had an extraordinary encounter when she spotted a female blanket octopus just off the coast of Lady Elliot Island, in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
“When I first saw it, I thought it could have been a juvenile fish with long fins, but as it came closer, I realised it was a female blanket octopus and I had this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement,” she told the Guardian.
Shackleton dived down and managed to take a video of the moment, capturing the octopus as it appeared to almost ‘dance’ through the water.
“I kept yelling through my snorkel, ‘it’s a blanket octopus!’ I was so excited, I was finding it difficult to hold my breath to dive down and video it.”
The blanket octopus gets its name specifically from how its tentacles have sheets of webbing stretched between them. This thin, fleshy cape or blanket-like structure is only found in the female of the species. It is used as a defense mechanism so that the octopus appears to be larger than it seems and can scare away any potential threats. The blanket itself is iridescent, giving it a shimmering rainbow colouring.
Very few people have ever seen these octopi in the wild, let alone live ones. The first live male blanket octopus was sighted in the Ribbon Reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, a mere 21 years ago. The team that recorded the finding included Dr Julian Finn, senior curator for marine invertebrates at Musuems Victoria, who noted that the difference between the male and female was one of the most extreme cases of size discrepancies found in animals. While the female can grow up to 2 meters in length, the male octopi grow to only about 2.4 centimeters.
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Shackleton believes that the elusively rare species had only been seen in the area about three times prior to her own find, as they are known to prefer the open ocean, where they live out the majority of their life cycle. Knowing this, Shackleton says she feels lucky to have had the opportunity to capture the sight.
“Seeing one in real life is indescribable, I was so captivated by its movements, it was as if it was dancing through the water with a flowing cape. The vibrant colours are just so incredible, you can’t take your eyes off it.”
While she’s no stranger to rare sightings of sea creatures, Shackleton maintains that the blanket octopus is one of her favourite experiences so far.
“I’ve truly never seen anything like it before and don’t think I ever will again in my life.”
