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Octopus: Passionate, fluid and subtly dissimulating
Romantic, creative and almost human in their home building behaviour, octopus feed on crabs, crayfish and molluscs, and the shells are often found around their octopus castles which are distinctive barriers of shells around the mouth of their burrows, and worth looking for around rocks and on rubble bottoms. A hole is converted into a des-res octopus style.
One of the most erotic events I have ever watched on the reef was on Whale Rock in Mauritius.
Exposed to the violence of the open ocean, Whale rock has few corals, but massive topography and a large and varied fish population. There we found 2 octopus behaving strangely. One of them was huge, maroon, and edging around the rock towards another huge octopus. This one was green. Octopus normally change colour according to their surroundings, so this was unusual. After a while the big red guy began to push a long black tentacle towards the green one- who began to go pale. Was this the beginning of a territorial battle? But it was not fear, it turned out to be passion.
The red guy was the male, and he was in fact offering the green female octopus a sperm parcel on his extended tentacle. When octopuses reproduce, the male uses a specialized arm to transfer the parcel from his reproductive organ into the female’s mantle cavity. The male often dies within a few weeks of mating, while the female can keep the sac stored for some months.
She was very shy, almost skittish, and flirted with him, turning white and green and edging towards him then darting away. Eventually he thrust the parcel under one of her tentacles, and she rose up into a parachute form, and turned pure white, looking just like a human bride.
Then she seemed to go into a trance and her colour subsided back to the normal greyish colour, before they turned their backs on one another and slithering off in opposite directions. She would hold the parcel safely until her eggs were ready to fertilize. Once they have been fertilized, the female lays sometimes as many as 200,000 eggs, most of which will not survive.
Octopus can hide in plain sight, simply by changing shape and colour to protect themselves. We watched a Tomato spotted rock cod attacking an octopus. The octopus immediately changed colour and shape to exactly mimic the shape and colour of the rock cod.
There are around 300 recognized octopus species. Octopuses do not have tentacles, they actually have 4 pairs of arms, three hearts, 2 eyes and one beak. They walk, run and swim using their arms, and if they are disturbed and afraid they will use jet propulsion to get away. If they are in mortal danger they will release a cloud of ink which contains a chemical that obscures their scent and confuses predators.
The rare and special ones can be found in Mauritius and in Indonesia where we found the mimic octopus, which has extremely long arms, and which readily mimics the surrounding fish life.
All octopus are poisonous to some extent, but the rarest, and the only one deadly to humans if the exquisite, minute blue ringed octopus, found in Indonesia and Australia.
We went to the Lembeh Straits to film him, and we really expected to see something spectacular. For two days we searched the sandy slopes and rubble bottoms. On the third day I spotted a large cockroach scuttling on its front legs along the sand. A cockroach under the sea? I pushed my Go Pro towards him, to get a close-up and he swelled up to twice the size and began to pulsate and flash iridescent blue circles. He was not a cockroach at all. He was a blue ringed octopus. The flash bulbs went crazy as the professional photographers shot pics of him, but he disappeared down a hole before I could film him.
Words Jill Holloway
Pic David Holloway
Copyright Ocean Spirit
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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