Video footage of the blanket octopus is always a special treat. This particular species of octopus is always going to draw attention to itself thanks to what resembles an elegant and flowing cape. It is as if you were looking at a member of Neptune’s court.
In this video clip a blanket octopus can be seen close to the surface of the water. This is normal for them as they prefer surface and mid-depth waters. The angle of the camera faces upward toward the surface where you will see a blanket octopus with its lateral arms gently extended exposing the full majesty of its cape.
Of course, the blanket octopus doesn’t really have a cape. The flowing cape, canopy, blanket — call it what you will — that you see is actually webbing that is attached to the lateral arms. If you look closely at this video you will notice how the other six arms of the blanket octopus are far shorter than the two lateral arms to which the webbing is attached.
Thanks to the upward angle used in this video you will also notice another characteristic of the blanket octopus that makes some believe that they have a human-like face. The funnel — that protrusion that all octopuses have which they use to stream water through their gills as well as to create streams for locomotion — on the blanket octopus due to its positioning and the size and shape of its head can appear to be a nose — a large cartoonish nose. Not everyone sees it like that but look carefully, it’s easy to see why some do.
If you are curious as to the size of this particular blanket octopus, near the beginning of the video you will spot a floating banana peel. Based on the size of the average banana that would make this particular blanket octopus somewhere between 3 and 3-1/2 feet in length.
