[travel] Octopus!
Apr. 12th, 2009 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mattbellMy second day snorkeling in Dahab was fairly mediocre – the sea was too rough to see eel garden, or to do much of anything for that matter. However, on the way back in, right near the diver entrance, I met a glorious large octopus. It had the ability to change both its color and texture, and interacting with it was fascinating. It would often attempt to hide by finding a rock, encircling it completely by flattening its tentacles, and then texturing and coloring its body to take on the appearance of the rock.
If you don't believe me, have a look at this well-known but still stunning video:
Its movements (via squirting propulsion) were also completely alien. Not to anthropomorphise too much, but its behavior and mystery lent it an air of great intelligence. Apparently large octopi are actually quite smart, and there are numerous tales of their feats of intelligence.
Tangentially, their tentacles are so complicated that they have their own minibrains, and the central brain issues them high-level commands like “grab the rock”.
If you don't believe me, have a look at this well-known but still stunning video:
Its movements (via squirting propulsion) were also completely alien. Not to anthropomorphise too much, but its behavior and mystery lent it an air of great intelligence. Apparently large octopi are actually quite smart, and there are numerous tales of their feats of intelligence.
Tangentially, their tentacles are so complicated that they have their own minibrains, and the central brain issues them high-level commands like “grab the rock”.
