This article was originally written by Jack Fifield for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
Octopuses rarely have access to cameras — but when they do, they turn into total divas. At least, that’s what happened when a giant Pacific octopus got a hold of a diver’s camera off the coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island and used it to conduct a mini video shoot underwater.
Chris Mullen, a 35-year-old from northwest England, was diving with his friend, 31-year-old John Roney, when the pair encountered the sea creature. According to Mullen, the temperature was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the divers, wearing dry suits, were carrying about 70 pounds worth of gear as they filmed the ocean below.
Toward the end of their hour-long dive on Aug. 4, the curious cephalopod — the largest octopus species on Earth — came out from underneath a rock before stretching out its arms to give the divers a “hug.” Then, the animal took hold of Roney’s camera and became a videographer itself.
“We originally saw it on our way out, we passed it at the beginning of the dive, and took a couple of pictures when it was underneath a rock,” Mullen, who’s been diving for a decade, told SWNS. “Twenty or 30 minutes later, we passed back on the way home and it reached out for John’s camera. It stretched quite far from where it was to grab hold of the camera, it really went out of its way to get hold of John and his camera.”
Mullen continued, “It had his camera for about five minutes. I’d already started to swim away, as I like to give them space. But as I tried to leave, it dropped the camera and started moving toward where I was going to. It was effectively following me. It briefly stopped to interact with another octopus, and then saw me up higher filming it, and it made a beeline right for me and jumped on me next. It was wild, it was crazy what was going on.”
Mullen posted a video of the encounter to his Instagram page, where he showcases photos and footage from his dives — and as of Sept. 3, it had racked up over 28,500 likes.
“The moments where you see these animals, where they’re choosing to have this interaction and controlling the interaction, willingly participating in it, it really displays the intelligence of these animals,” Roney said.
He went on: “Because the camera was still rolling, it gave us this really unique look at the underside of their suckers. As the octopus was holding it, we were joking the octopus was a videographer itself. Chris has got [the] same great photos of it actually holding the camera and aiming it toward the wall. I think moments like that really capture people’s curiosity. It shows them a world they might not get to see otherwise.”
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