Most people would belike be a scrap freaked out if an devilfish seem and started roll its sucker - laden limb around them , but that ’s far from the suit for one marine videographer , who recently capture footage in which a large , red octopus appear to have give them a fast cuddle .
The videographer in question isJules Casey , who says she ’s formed a friendship with this exceptional nautical critter , a Maori devilfish dubbed “ Priscilla ” . “ I ’m currently make a curt film about our incredible friendship and her life sentence , which include several other Maori Octopuses in the area , ” Casey toldStoryful .
In a video taken by Casey in the waters near a pier in Rye , Victoria , Priscilla can be seen approach the camera before briefly comprehend it and then retreating .
This is far from a unique encounter between the two , fit in to Casey . “ I have been checking on her for quite a few months , almost daily . She feel comfortable having me drown along side of her while she hunts for crabs . She will often reach out and search my camera and give me cuddles . ”
Casey is n’t the only one to have hammer a partnership with an octopus . One such human relationship was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentaryMy Octopus Teacher , in which filmmaker Craig Foster spends a year commence up nigh and personal with a common devilfish in the Great African Seaforest . This too experience physical contact lens between homo and octopus , with the picture ’s cephalopod star at one decimal point “ rushing ” over to Foster andwrapping its limbsaround his pectus .
Whether or not these octopuses are serve up out “ hugs ” in the same way as we understand them to be is unclear ; that this could be a case of anthropomorphism ( assign human trait to something non - human ) is not out of the interrogation . Humans do it all the time .
But neither is it exclusively out of the realm of possibility , even if it might seem improbable . We cognise that octopuses are highly thinking , and some scientists believe they are also sentient , with late research suggesting that they are capable offeeling pain .
“ They smell out reverence , they reply to their environs , literally through the changing of the colour of their skin . They shapeshift , they are very playful . They are incredibly inquisitive , that is the definition of sentience , ” Sophika Kostyniuk , Managing Director at the Aquatic Life Institute , differentiate IFLScience in an episode ofThe Big Questions .
All that is n’t to say you should find the nearest scrap of ocean and actively attempt to get a hug from an octopus ; touching nautical life ( or any raging animal , for that matter ) is the ultimate no - no unless utterly necessary . Plough in front anyway and you might justget slapped – orworse .
