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Dave @lemmy.nz

Octopus hitchhiking on shark in Hauraki Gulf makes global headlines

International media and scientific organisations are lapping up footage of a real life 'Sharktopus' filmed in the Hauraki Gulf.

Marine biologist Professor Rochelle Constantine said the encounter in December 2023 was a tale to top them all.

28 comments

  • I love this. I wonder what it was doing...

    ..maybe it is an explorer. I wish octopuses were able to communicate more knowledge intergenerationally. It feels like they don't currently get the most out of their intellects.

    • I love this. I wonder what it was doing…

      Most likely - I'll just rest here on this rock, woooah, oh shit oh shit oh shit what's happening 😱

      …maybe it is an explorer. I wish octopuses were able to communicate more knowledge intergenerationally. It feels like they don’t currently get the most out of their intellects.

      Maybe they do! Maybe this octopus is shark riding just like it's grandparents taught it, in order to get to the more fertile feeding grounds for the winter, using the routes passed down from generation to generation.

      • Well unfortunately no, this is the tragedy of the octopuses - they don't know their parents and grandparents. Their mothers die when they are born and their fathers are absent, and they are solitary.

        Their only chance at learning is social or observational learning from peers but because of the territory arrangements even that doesn't happen a lot as far as we know, though scientists have observed some younger octopuses learning from watching older ones from a distance.

        Octopuses are incredibly smart. They can infer from context, make generalizations, spatially imagine objects, and even show altruism. If only they could do what you said and pass on knowledge the world would be their oyster!

28 comments