Amazing- Octopus eats a seagull...

To see more pictures of this amazing event, please go to our Facebook page. Sidney, BC, March 22, 2012: It’s well known that birds feast on marine life, but what about the other way around? Ginger Morneau of Langford was walking on the breakwater at Ogden Point with family from out of town when the sound of splash...ing caught their attention. Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw when they looked into the water. “The orange tentacle of an octopus wrapped around a seagull and they were struggling. It felt like time stopped as we watched the encounter.” Morneau was fortunate enough to have her camera on hand to document what in actuality took less than a minute. The octopus drowned the bird and pulled it down into the water. “My husband laughed at me, but I wanted to save the seagull. It was very shocking to watch.” Says Morneau. While it’s rare for this feeding activity to be caught on camera, it’s not that unusual for an octopus to eat a bird. “Octopuses are smart and if they see a bird that consistently lands on a rock they can access then they may have a go at catching it. Birds, on the other hand, are not all that smart and often will not move when an arm comes out of the water because they do not recognize it as a threat.” Say Jim Cosgrove, author of Super Suckers, the go-to guide on Giant Pacific Octopus. The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney has a large male giant pacific octopus, fondly known as “The Dude”. He has shown his aquarists first hand just how clever these creatures can be “The Dude learned how to open a jar and retrieve a crab within a minute of us showing him how to do it!" says Paula Romagosa, Head Aquarist. “They’re also incredibly strong, there has been more than one occasion in which it has taken several people to retrieve the cleaning pole when he decides to hold on to the end." Says Romagosa. The Centre will be releasing The Dude soon so that he’s able to continue to grow and complete his breeding cycle in the wild. A wild giant pacific octopus captures a Seagull at Ogden Point -30- About Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is an aquarium and marine education centre focused on the amazing ecosystem of the Salish Sea. The Centre operates as a not-for-profit community facility that is self-supporting through admission fees, grants and donations. The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is governed, funded and owned by the New Marine Centre Society. Capital funds for the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre were raised through generous community support. The Centre is located in a spectacular waterfront building in Sidney, BC. Media Contact: Leshell Michaluk, Sales & Marketing Director marketing@oceandiscovery.ca 250-665-7511 Ext. 109
Thanks to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre for passing along this story.