The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness in Science and Inquiry

Feb 16, 2019 aPriL does feral sometimes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, academic-notations, science

Until I read ‘The Soul of an Octopus’, by Sy Montgomery, talented amateur scientist (journalist) octopuses were almost not ever in my thoughts in any way. As I have learned in reading this book, this was a serious deficiency in my education.

First of all, giant Pacific octopuses have been living near my home all my life in Seattle, a port city. I have walked and partied on Seattle’s beaches all of my life and ate seafood at restaurants with beachside tables on Seattle’s piers. The Seattle Aquari Until I read ‘The Soul of an Octopus’, by Sy Montgomery, talented amateur scientist (journalist) octopuses were almost not ever in my thoughts in any way. As I have learned in reading this book, this was a serious deficiency in my education.

First of all, giant Pacific octopuses have been living near my home all my life in Seattle, a port city. I have walked and partied on Seattle’s beaches all of my life and ate seafood at restaurants with beachside tables on Seattle’s piers. The Seattle Aquarium has a few octopuses, and some of them are Youtube stars. Secondly, the Aquarium catches them in Elliot Bay, just off the pier where the Aquarium was built. Third, the local diving clubs see them all of the time, posting videos of them, including one video of baby octopuses hatching from eggs, while their dying mother waves them on. The babies are cute as buttons, literally, being the size of tiny pearl collar buttons. Mom octopuses die shortly after the babies begin hatching because the moms starve themselves on guard duty while the eggs grow after being laid.

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They have been under my feet all my life, so to speak. I learned to look up only after I married my husband, a small plane pilot. Did you know the most beautiful clouds are in Seattle, huge, puffy, beautiful? I should have also been looking down, and out across the water, which often was within walking distance of my rented apartments. I certainly have owned boats, and had boyfriends with boats. My only excuse is the water is very very cold. And maybe, I am thick in the head. Why did I think on most days the bays, lakes, rivers and ocean near me were only for getting a tan?

o _ O

Octopuses are, like, A-listers of the aquatic world. They are powerful, smart, alpha dogs, or maybe like real black-ops guys - a Navy Seal Team? Hehe. They have to be, since their bodies are like pudding with muscles. They hunt to eat, mostly crabs, but things like to hunt for them, too. But once they reach their full size, watch out. They have been caught on video killing sharks.

Yeah. Sharks, man.

Below is a link to a talk given by the author, posted on Youtube. She reads from the book, so, you don’t really have to read the book, I guess, if you want the condensed version. It is as interesting as the book is. However, the book goes into more detail about many of the employees and volunteers who work with octopuses at the Boston New England Aquarium. The book also describes how the author learned to scuba dive, and the observations she made of sea life.

https://youtu.be/_N2yDf7_1oc

As I read the ebook, I discovered more videos by clicking on the links provided by the author in the back of the book in the Selected Bibliography section. They are excellent! people can be so generous. As the author notes, octopuses can be generous, too. When they get to know a person (they recognize individual humans!), they allow people to pet them, at least the ones they like. They have preferences. If they don’t like you, you might get hosed. Yes, they are slimy, but. Wouldn’t you give a body part to pet an octopus? Plus, they are playful, moody, and are able to escape from almost anything - covered tank or barrel, tied up plastic bag, jar with a lid screwed on (there are videos showing octopuses can unscrew lids from inside the jar- if there is a minimum of a one- or two-inch gap anywhere - only their beak doesn’t squish small. Being adventurous, they have been discovered outside of their tanks laying on aquarium floors drying out, or having taken up residence in other nearby fish tanks, which had been full of fish, somehow escaping from their own tank. However, the octopus may now be all alone in its new tank it chose as a new home, and all of those expensive rare fish have mysteriously disappeared. An octopus that is maybe forty pounds can drown you, too, as they are way powerful. Their bite can kill you as they can inject you with a neurotoxin which is flesh-eating. It is a good thing they almost never bite the hands that feed them, eh? But what they enjoy is grabbing their caretakers’ hands, arms, pulling lightly (sometimes not so lightly) with their suckers ( maybe up to 1500 of them, each capable of individual manipulation!), tasting, smelling, feeling you - and maybe liking it. What they like about us, well. Their caretakers like to assume they like us for our loving natures, right? However, they get bored easily, and they like toys. Maybe we are a toy? Given their clever hunting skills including the ability to change their appearance into anything - fish, rocks, sandy floors, their ability to flash colors like a disco dance floor to attract us, their enormous strength, I suspect we are interesting toys to them. At best. Caretakers, keep petting and caressing those octopuses when you feed them! They then have a reason to keep YOU around...

The book also has an Index section and photographs. There never are enough photos! Of course, I am now a major fan of octopuses. They can kill sharks. Sharks. Holy shit. ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 Navi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, science, animals, memoir

I had high hopes for this book going in. A lot of people I trust have been raving about this. After reading it, I have to say it did not live up to the hype (in my opinion). I found the author's voice overly emotional and anthropomorphic towards the octopus. I understand our need to assign human characteristics to animals to make them more relatable to us. However I wish there was more sound science instead of the author's conjectures. There was not nearly enough about the octopus that I was hop ...more

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May 06, 2016 Kathleen rated it it was ok

Short on info on the octopus and I felt like I was reading a children's book. ...more

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Oct 31, 2016 Paula S rated it really liked it

4 stars because I love octopuses.

This is a nice non-fiction book about the octopuses the author has met and interacted with, mostly at the aquarium in Boston, and the people and animals around them. Along the way are facts and stories about how octopuses live and how smart they are. A very enjoyable read.

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