A video showing an octopus throwing itself at a man on a beach in Western Australia last month went viral.
Geologist and author Lance Karlson was about to take a bath near the resort where he and his family were staying on March 19, when he saw what he thought was the stingray’s tail hitting a seagull, according to Reuters. Upon further inspection, Karlson and his 2-year-old daughter discovered that it was an octopus.
He made a video of the creature swimming beside him in the shallow water before it suddenly threw its arms at him. Then, after setting up his family in a sunscreen, he put on some goggles and went into the water alone to explore the crab shells. Once he was swimming, the octopus found him again and used his arms to throw Karlson, who felt a sharp sting over his neck and back.
“My glasses got steamy, the water was suddenly cloudy and I remember being shocked and confused,” Karlson told the news agency.
He later uploaded the videos to social networks and called her the “most angry octopus” in Geographe Bay. “After watching a seagull, then my daughter decided and I deserved a shot!” wrote on Instagram. “Later I discovered his house in a crab cemetery, where he came after me again!”
The octopus left red marks on Karlson’s neck and upper body. But he told Reuters that he did not feel any animosity towards the animal.
Dr. Jennifer Mather, a professor at Lethbridge University who has been studying octopuses for decades, watched the viral video and told CBS News on Friday that since the man approached a crab cemetery, it was clear he was getting too close. much of the octopus’ shelter. She said crab shells are essentially a pile of garbage.
“Fish often eat the remains of the shell, and the octopus sometimes targets what we called ‘slaps’ on them,” she said.
Octopuses don’t usually behave like that, according to Mather, considering them shy animals.
“It’s very unusual for an octopus to be aggressive in this way, but it has clear personalities and you could describe it as irritable or reactive,” Mather said. “The man was not in danger, the octopus was just warning him not to be.”