This eight-limbed, three-hearted creatures have mesmerised us humans for centuries. Stories we create with octopuses are endless from the ancient Kraken to Spiderman’s nemesis, Dr. Octopus.
They are majestic and mysterious and we still don’t know everything about them.
And of course, in Okinawa, Japan, we can observe these magical creatures if you’re lucky. At Bubble Addict Okinawa Dive Center, We love to observe these creatures from a safe distance so as not to disturb them. But unfortunately, since it is a common food item in Japan, we try to be the best examples of scuba diving humans. Here in north of Okinawa, in Nakijin area, there are some secret spots we introduce our divers to see octopuses.
So without further ado, these are cool facts about octopuses.
- They’ve been around for really, really really long time. The earliest evidence of their existence can date back to a fossil from 330 million years ago. Yes, that would be way before dinosaurs.
- The plural form of octopus has long been argued. But the most logically agreeable form, in my totally personal opinion, is that since the word stem of octopus is Greek, it should incorporate the Greek format of plural, which is Octopuses, not Octopi as in the Latin format.
- Aristotle, literally and shamelessly, wrote that Octopuses are stupid. Yes, it’s true. He wrote around 350 B.C.E. that « The octopus is a stupid creature, for it will approach a man’s hand if it be lowered in the water » Copntrary to Aristotle’s shameless statement, modern scientists have found that octopuses have big brains for the rest of the bodies, they are excellent problem solvers, and navigators.
- Octopuses’s arms have neurons in their arms. That means the arms think for themselves. Even if they are cut off from the rest othe bodies, they can still react, too.
- For me, this is the most heartbreaking fact about octopuses and since then, we have completely stopped eating anything octopuses including the famous Japanese dumpling called Takkoyaki. Octopus males lose their arms that they use the fertilise the eggs, then shortly after they die. The female octopuses, however, stay behind and start to starve themselves in order to direct all their energies to motherhood. They lay about 400,000 eggs and guard them without eating at all. By the time the eggs start to hatch, they are dying or dead because of starvation. The image of the motionless dead octopus floating around close the hatching eggs in « My teacher, Octopus » was the end of my ever eating octopus ever again.
- Lastly, octopuses have 33,000 genes in their DNA, 10,000 more than a human. There are no DNAs on this Earth like that of octopuses.
Our passion for small, intimate group allows you to observe these amazing creatures without having to stress out about too many other divers and being rushed. So there is a lot of photo opportunities, too. The only downside to observing something like this? You may just want to stop eating all those octopus dishes.
