Okay, among the things that most people hold to be universal truths are that sugar is sweet, that we will all die someday, and that octopuses are marine creatures.
Well, be prepared to be amazed. This video shows you a real land loving octopus. It is a species that lives in Australia and is the only octopus that is equipped to walk on land.
During low tide, this particular octopus emerges from the water and starts walking on land from tidal pool to tidal pool. It does so to hunt for crabs.
As the video clearly demonstrates, during low tide crabs use these tidal pools to hide. Unfortunately for them, this octopus can reach them and make a quick meal out of them.
The technique used by this species of octopus to move on land is similar to that which it uses to walk on the ocean floor while underwater. It uses its arms to propel itself and uses its suckers to gain better traction on the land surface.
It is both a majestic and eerie sight to behold an octopus moving so easily outside of the water. It also makes you ponder what evolutionary path this species of octopus might follow thousands and millions of years into the future. If one day there is a species of octopus-headed beings that rule the planet, the octopus in this video might be their ancestor.
For those who enjoy a bit of lightheartedness in their nature videos, there is a very funny scene when our land loving octopus enters a tidal pool and a fish in the process of having a little snack appears to be dumbstruck by the octopus suddenly entering the water. You literally see the food that it had in its mouth fall as the fish’s jaw just dropped at the sight of the octopus.
