Natalie Hoage
Fri, December 15, 2023
Are you a fan of the ocean and intrigued by everything that lives in it? I certainly am, and so when I stumbled across this amazing video of a glass octopus, I couldn't stop watching it! I've never heard of this creature before and was enthralled by its beauty.
@peaksurvivalist shared the video of the unique octopus on Monday, December 11th. It's only about 20 seconds long and shows the creature swimming in the deep waters of the ocean. They explain in the caption that these guys live in the deep sea and have nearly transparent bodies which make them almost invisible under water. The octopus is gently gliding through the water, being carried by the current. The video is so soothing and relaxing that I'd like to make it my computer's screensaver!
What an amazing looking sea creature! And like its name implies, it does look like glass. I had so many questions after watching this @peaksurvivalist video that I decided to do a little research since I know nothing about these octopuses. Turns out, they're a pretty interesting animal.
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Facts About the Unique Glass Octopus
I headed over to Ocean Conservancy to learn more about these deep-water oddities. They live deep down at about 3,000 feet, where sunlight is never seen in tropical and subtropical waters. Because they live so far down, there haven't been many sightings of them and not a lot is known. In fact, most "sightings" come from the "gut contents of their predators", like whales and deep-sea sharks, crabs, and shrimp.
Glass octopus grow to about 18 inches long (it looks bigger than that in the video!) and can live 2-5 years. The're almost completely transparent with only their optic nerve, eyes, and digestive track visible. Although in this video it almost looks like it has yellow spots on it - I wonder if that's the digestive track. Their upper three arms are longer than the other five arms. Their transparency may make them look beautiful, but it also helps them to hide from predators as well since they're nearly invisible.
According to oceaninfo.com, these animals are smart, and have been seen using tools, such as shells and rocks, to help it catch prey. The octopus eats mollusks (like clams, mussels, and scallops) and snails found on the ocean floor.
The glass octopus is proof that the ocean is full of creatures we haven't seen and know nothing about. It's a wonderful world that still is full of life that is just waiting to be found.
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