Amazing Squared… The Coconut Octopus…
Whilst diving you occasionally come across coconut shells, discarded bottles, glasses, tin cans, cups and sometimes even shoes. Whenever you find something like this on a dive it’s worth taking a closer look as various creatures quite often make use of them for shelter. Octopus in particular are really quite good at this, and one of their kind even has a common name that reflects the shelter they regularly seek. Meet the Coconut Octopus, not in a Coconut in this case:
The name comes from the fact that they have evolved to use Coconut shells as shelter. Two halves of a coconut held tightly with suckers become a tough means of protection when pulled together.
Of course, what with humans being messy bastards there is often a lot more in the water than just natural flotsam. The Coconut Octopus is a curious and resourceful creature, and anything he or she comes across that fits their needs has potential as a new home. You can occasionally see them “walking” across the sea bed with a few of their legs whilst the remaining legs hold tight to their chosen shelter. When they feel threatened they pull the two halves of their shelter together and will wait out the threat. How is that for smart?
So, there you have it, one of the most amazing sea creatures, doing something totally amazing. Amazing squared.
