You’re walking by a bakery and suddenly the scent of freshly baked pastries hits you. You approach the establishment’s window and take a peek. You see row after row of mouth-watering delicious pastries.
What do you do next? You enter the bakery and buy a dozen, of course!
What if, however, when you approach the door of the bakery you found that it was locked. Yes, you arrived after closing time. Now what?
For us humans, the only choice would be to go home empty-handed and come back the next morning.
In this observational experiment of an octopus vulgaris conducted in one of the observation tanks at Octolab, you will discover that an octopus placed in a similar situation does not take no for an answer when a tasty treat is involved.
The Problem Presented to the Octopus
Inside the observation tank, a beaker is placed containing a mussel inside. Due to the shape of the mussel’s shell and the narrowness of the beaker’s neck, extracting the muscle would be difficult.
This was done intentionally in order to gauge how the octopus would respond. Would he try to extract the mussel with his arms only to give up when he was unable to pull it out? Would he enter the beaker himself to consume the muscle from within?
The Octopus’ Initial Reaction
The video starts at the point when the octopus realizes that there is a tasty mussel in his presence. You can see him rush to the beaker to size up the situation. Similar to you pressing your face against the bakery’s window.
Once he realizes that there’s a tasty snack to be had, he starts by wrapping his arms around the beaker. As time progresses you can see him inserting one of his arms through the beaker’s opening. The octopus is probing the beaker for a more suitable access point to the mussel.
After a while, it appears as if the octopus might be inclined to simply give up. On the video, he disappears from the frame as he swims away from the beaker.
Planning a Solution
As it has been observed several times with other octopuses, when they are presented with a problem that requires a complex solution they often leave the immediate area for a moment. It is as if they need to step aside to think things over.
In this case, the handler was not sure if that is what was taking place or if the octopus had indeed given up.
Unhand That, You Two-Armed Human!
The handler initiated a bold move. He reached into the tank and grabbed the beaker as if he was going to remove it.
Immediately, the octopus dashed back to the beaker charging at the handler. If you watch the video carefully you can observe how the octopus changes color briefly in order to intimidate the handler further.
The Result
Whether the octopus had indeed planned on giving up or if he was planning a more complex solution, the presence of the handler forced the octopus to act decisively.
As you watch the rest of the video you will be amazed at how the octopus squeezes through the narrow opening and enters the beaker. Once inside, he calmly eats the mussel and then begins the process of exiting the beaker.
For a moment he looks like a genie trapped in a bottle. Eventually, though, he emerges as smoothly as he entered. Unfortunately for the handler, he did not give him three wishes when he came out.
