Watching the replay of the PBS Nature documentary last night about an Alaska professor with an octopus in his living room reminded me of the other great books I’ve read about these amazing creatures. Their facility for mimicry, their distributed brains, their obvious intelligence. Such a good explanation of how far back came the divide on the evolutionary tree that led to, well, us, and to them.
Sy Montgomery’s book, Soul of an Octopus, goes even further into their fascinating behavior and how she befriended a particular octopus at the New England Aquarium. That review also has a link to my post, “Why I Don’t Eat Octopus.” I’m guessing you know the reason already!
Have a wonderful weekend.
I remember one of Jacques Cousteau’s documentaries calling the octopus the magician of the seas. I also recall an obscure and dreadful movie starring Bo Hopkins about a monstrous sea creature wreaking havoc on a coastal town. The movie was released to capitalize on the Jaws popularity and contained one unintentionally hilarious line that I still remember to this day. After finding a yacht that had been crushed by the monster, the actor delivers the line, “There’s only one thing that can do this kind of damage–Giant Octopus.”
(That was the title of the movie. and the fact that the actor managed to deliver it without cracking up always amazed me.)
Also…”My Octopus Teacher” wonderful film
Thank you for reminding me — I’ve been wantint to see that!