The octopus could have easily swam off in the opposite direction, "but instead decided to send me a strong message by torpedoing directly at me like a bowling ball with tentacles," she said. But towards the end of 10 minutes it definitely seemed to 'want its own space' and made no apologies for hunting for crabs right next to my body in a way that I'll admit was a bit intimidating!" "Then it just continued to hunt crustaceans while I followed it around for a while. "At first, the octopus seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see it," Hirschfield wrote in an email to Live Science. Perhaps the octopus was both hunting for prey and intimidating her at the same time, she said. Hirschfield said she has OCD - obsessive-compulsive diving - and dives because of the "serenity and tranquility" it offers her as she lives with terminal cancer, according to an interview posted by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. The diver who recorded the video, PT Hirschfield, is a filmmaker and writer who lives in Victoria, Australia. The Scripps team added that the octopus is likely a common Sydney octopus ( Octopus tetricus), but that it's difficult to say from just watching the video. "Then, the octopus went back to trying to hide and use camouflage, only to eventually swim away." You don't want to eat me,' to a predator," said Caitlin Scully, a spokesperson at the aquarium. "This behavior is used to say, 'Look how big I am. When the animal sees the diver, the octopus spreads out its arms twice, likely to make itself look larger, the scientists added. The video shows how the octopus used camouflage to blend its color and body texture with its habitat, the Scripps team said. However, another explanation for the animal's ballooning is more likely, said marine biologists at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "They require a lot of protein and food." Don't eat me "They eat a broad variety of things, because they have a big brain - they eat mollusks, snails, crabs and small fish," she said. This hunting behavior is fairly common among octopuses ( also called octopodes or octopi), Sullivan Sealey said. "It was using that water to chase little shrimp out from the rocks so that they would get caught in its legs and the webbing between its legs." "It's shooting water out of its mantle ," Sullivan Sealey told Live Science. ![]() ![]() The octopus was likely pushing water downward so it could flush out prey, catch the meal with its net-like body and eat it with its beak, she said. Small prey was likely hiding among the rocks along the seafloor. It makes sense that the octopus was swimming across the ocean floor like a giant parachute, Sullivan Sealey said. Screen shot of the octopus puffed out into a "parachute" when it saw the diver.
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