octopus episode 4 official

This episode of the Wildlife Wonders Podcast is about octopuses, specifically the giant Pacific octopus. Octopuses are invertebrates found all over the world in saltwater. They belong to the class cephalopoda, which includes squids and cuttlefish. Octopuses are highly intelligent, with most of their neurons located in their limbs. They are solitary and territorial, often living in dens or caves. The giant Pacific octopus is the largest species, growing up to 600 pounds and 30 feet across. They are reddish-brown in color and have powerful tentacles with 2,000 suckers. Octopuses are intelligent enough to solve puzzles and undo jars. While they can be friendly towards humans in captivity, they are shy and should not be approached in the wild. They eat a variety of marine animals and can consume up to 2,900 calories a day. Female octopuses eat more before mating. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of another week of Wildlife Wonders Podcast. Woo! I am your host, the one and only Stariana. Thank you for tuning in once again this lovely Friday or whenever you are listening to it and however you are listening to it. I appreciate you. We are going strong with another animal. But this week I have decided why are we staying in Australia? Let's move along. Let's go around the world and see what we can find. So this week we will be talking about an invertebrate. Now if you listened to the first episode or if you didn't listen to the first episode I explained the invertebrate is a species of animals that do not have backbones. They lack a backbone. They lack a spine. That does not mean they're not tough animals but that's what an invertebrate is. So that's where we're going to go today and we're going to learn about them and specifically I am going to talk about octopuses. Yes, the eight legged little animal. Well, they're not little all the time but the eight legged animal at the bottom of the ocean that some of us don't really know a lot about including myself. This is an animal I'm not always familiar with marine life but I knew a little bit something about the octopuses but I learned some interesting facts while researching this for you guys. So come along with me and learn with me. So octopuses are found in the ocean all over the world. There's all kind of different types of octopuses. We're going to specifically talk about one later on which is the giant Pacific but in general they're found everywhere as long as there is salt water they might be found. Now you might not find them if you're swimming on the surface or going a little below because a lot of times they live at the very, very, very deep, deep, deep down in the ocean. But regardless, they are part of a class called cephalopoda. That's a funny word to say if you want to try yourself cephalopoda. This is the members of the moth family. So in this class there's squids, there's cuttlefish and of course there's octopuses which is why I'm mentioning it and there's over 800 species of octopuses and you're probably wondering like where the heck did they come up with this name cephalopoda. That is such a funny cephalopoda. Like that's your word of the week. The name translates to head foot. If you ever look at an octopus, they're all one body. The head is connected to the limbs and it's just all into one, one whole organism. There's no separation. Like for us, it's like hips and stomach. I don't see no separation. It just goes straight into one body. So like I said before, they are invertebrates. They do not have a spine and they are one of the smartest invertebrates. Octopuses in general are one of the smartest invertebrates out there. Octopuses talk about their intelligence, right? Everybody's mind blowing. They might be smarter than some humans in all honesty. But their brain is throughout their body. The majority of their neurons are in their limbs. If you ever see an octopus, the way they move along the ocean floor, or even when they're just swimming in the ocean, they're using their limbs. They're moving along with their limbs to get them where they need to go. Just like our legs, their limbs are doing the same thing. But a lot of their brain and their thinking is using their limbs versus where most of ours, I mean, our brain of course is in our head, but then it controls the rest of our body. Like I said, they do all live in salt water. You wouldn't ever find an octopus in a freshwater or another area. It's just not their habitat. And they're usually solitary and territorial animals. So you usually also find a lot of octopuses in dens most of the day. There are certain octopuses that like to find, they're part of the mollusk family. So like they like to find shells sometimes and sit in the shells and hunt some shells. So a lot of times you'll find them in dens or caves, a place where they can hide and be alone. In a way, octopuses remind me of intruders. Like every now and then they come out to hunt, they come out to do what they need to do, maybe socialize, maybe, hey, we're at the party. You know, they come out when they need to come out to fulfill a goal. But then they're like, I'm going back home. This ain't as fun as I thought. So that's a little bit of general about octopuses. But let's get right into the star of the show tonight. The giant pacific octopus. You're probably saying like, why is it even named, why is it named the giant? Because the giant pacific octopus is the largest octopus species in the world. Personally, I couldn't go fit a fin, toe to toe with this octopus, it's huge. The largest one they found, hold your chair, the largest giant pacific octopus they have found was around 600 pounds. 600 pounds and 30 feet across at least. And this was found in Canada, I do not have the date as to when. But on history, as far as I know on record, that is the largest one they have found. Now, on average, they are big, but they're not going to be that big. On average, they are 22 to 160 pounds. They're a common child to an average sized adult for the most part. So they're pretty big. And they grow extremely quickly. I believe from when I read it online, it says the amount that we grow, I don't want to quote it wrong, the amount that we grow in two to three months, they grow in a day or a week, it's something like that. They grow extremely, extremely, extremely quickly. They are found in the northern Pacific Ocean, up to Alaska, around Japan, you'll find them there. I'm pretty sure over time they have migrated and they will continue to migrate as temperatures change, pollution and everything else. But that is mainly where they found, where they are found. They live three to five years. Dang, you know how long life spans. They don't. They come in this world, they get what they need to done in a week. And so along with that, let's talk about like, okay, what about them? What do they look like? As far as I know, as far as I can find, mostly all of them are reddish brown in color. They're very intelligent, like I said. With that, when I mean intelligent, most of it has been tracked or observed in captivity, meaning when they're in like aquariums, I want to say sanctuary, but the main part, aquariums where people are taking care of injured ones. They've seen them undo jars, like laser jars. They have initiated contact with guests or with their caretakers and solve puzzles. So pretty intelligent for an animal that goes around at the bottom of the sea. They're pretty smart. So their tentacles are powerful enough to tear human flesh apart. Not saying that's what they would do, but if they needed to, they could. Tentacles, of course, used to get food and move across the ocean. So it has to be pretty strong. They do have 2,000 suckers. 2,000 of them things! On their tentacles! Like 2,000 sensory pods on their tentacles. The suckers are the things, if you ever see the underside of their tentacles, it helps them grip, it helps them move. It's their way of maneuvering and figuring out their world. So that's a little bit about the sizes and the features. So now we're going to go right into the behaviors. So I know I said they're powerful enough to tear up human flesh, but let's see... In general, of course, if you go head to head with one in the wild, in the ocean, I can't say your chances will be as good. But in general, if you see them in a caretaking situation, in an aquarium, in a situation where they're in captivity, it has been said that they're pretty shy and friendly towards humans. You have different things at play there, of course, if they've been in captivity or born in captivity and they're used to humans and a lot of other factors. But I wouldn't go banking on it if you go swim in the ocean and try to see if you can go touch one or ride one. It don't work that way. But in general, it seems like they're pretty friendly. Like I said, they show their intelligence from what has been seen. They also have their intelligence at the bottom of the ocean. It hasn't been captured where they're getting their food. You know how there's crab traps and other traps for fishers and everybody when they put it down and they try to get our food. It hasn't been seen on video where an octopus goes in the trap, grabs a crab out, and gets out of the trap. He dips. He goes in and dips. Quickie. So yeah, that's one thing that I think was pretty cool. That they don't... Everyday trap that will get your crab and it lost it, they're like, this ain't nothing. I was thinking about the diet. Now, they eat crabs. Everybody loves crabs. We love dipping our crabs in butter. They love dipping them in salt water and consuming it. They do have beaks. Although they do not have a backbone. They have beaks to help them munch down on these hard animals. So they eat crabs, clams, shrimp, scallops, cockles, snails, lobsters, fish, squid. I'm gonna tell you, that's a good diet. And you gotta pay for it. That's a good diet. So there's a pescatarian, in a way. I mean, yeah. Everything they eat is mostly under the sea. And they get it with their suckers. What I was talking about earlier, there's 2,000 of them. They grab it with their suckers and they bite it with their beak to break it open. There are octopuses that can inject a poison, in a way, to kind of stop their prey from moving. But they have beaks so they can bite right into it. And so when they're eating, they usually come out their dens, they get their food, and then they go back in. They eat 2,900 calories a day. 2,900 calories. They are growing boys and girls. So they need all the food they can get. So they're out hunting for a little bit. They're not gonna eat one crab and say, yeah, that's it for the day. They're gonna get what they need. So that is all about their diet. For women, for my female octopuses out there, they eat more before they're mating, so they can have, before they get with their significant others to have other octopuses babies. They eat more so they have better chances of breeding, making a more healthy child. And also because once they start breeding, they don't usually leave their nest. So they're trying to get, it's like a bear for hibernation. They're trying to get all the meat and all the food they can get so they'll be good through that time period of their, I guess their nesting. So most cephalopodia, cephalopodia, most octopuses get one chance to mate. Now this is different for males and females. The males are a little greedy. The males can mate with multiple females, but the females a lot of times are, excuse me if I butcher this, female apart. I might have said that wrong, but this basically means, in a nutshell, that they only breed once in their life. Having a child is a lot of work, okay? Having a child is a lot of work. They have to eat more. They have to, then when they lay the eggs, they stay around. It's a lot of pressure and a lot of work. And you know they only live three to five years, so they have to be mindful of who they're going to have kids with and when they're going to have their kids. Because of that, a lot of octopuses, and because they're solitary animals, a lot of them mate at the end of their lifespan. So they're like, oh, well, we're getting to the end. We're about to kick the bucket. Might as well go ahead and put kids in a piece of water. So when they're about to mate, the female and the male get together and then she has an egg, or she's mating and then she has an egg. She lays, on average, between 120,000 to 400,000 eggs. Wow. She mates and lays all those eggs. And only a few of them make it. You have so many problems when they come out, between predators, between the ocean, algae, tides taking stuff away. You have so many factors. So she lays a lot of eggs in the hope that maybe at least half of them will make it in this world and do something. Okay? So when she lays these eggs, she stays, this is a committed mother, you guys, a committed mother that is willing to do anything for her kids. She stays with those eggs every day until they start to hatch. When she stays with the eggs, she checks them, she cleans them. If algae gets on there or anything, any dirt she does, cleans or anything that can affect their possibility of coming out into the world, she tries to help prevent that. She tries to keep away predators that come and eat. She does all she can as a mother because she's a strong one. She dedicates pretty much the rest of her life to these eggs because typically at the end of the period, after six months, and when they start to come out and try to swim on their own and swim away, the mom dies. Very sad ending, kids. The mom dies. And she dies because, but she died for a good cause. Okay. Let's not, let's not get that. She died for a good cause because she had put all she can into these kids. And also she does not eat during this time because I said she don't leave the kids for nothing. So the reason why they taking so much food because she basically starved herself so her kids can have a better future. Wow. But yeah, they basically died. And the female does the male go on about the business and go populate the rest of the ocean. So everybody can have brothers and sisters. So that's all that was pretty interesting. It's a really sad ending, but it's a dedication that I admire. I appreciate it. So as far as predators, I did say that predators can come and eat the eggs, nice tasty treats. You have a lot of scavengers that will come in and eat the eggs. You have mammals like whales that will come in and eat the eggs. Everybody has to eat. Sorry, but that's just the way of the world. But outside of the predators to the actual egg, the predators for full grown octopuses, when they get out into the world are sleeper sharks and humans because humans are predators to a lot of animals. We eat octopuses. You might not, but someone out there in the world does and someone out there in the world is fishing and trying to catch octopuses. Okay. Okay. Anyway, so that's the two main predators or I'm pretty sure there's other ones out there. I'm pretty sure as food gets low and everybody has to fight for their own, they probably get eaten or tried to get eaten by other things, but they, you got to be mindful specifically the giant Pacific octopus is so big that I'm not sure too many things would try to try it. That's not the same size. You know what I mean? So conservation status, like I said, they're big. They stick to their own. They don't have no problems with anybody. So they're at least conserved for conservation. They are affected like everything else by pollution, warmer temps, overfishing by humans. Cause of course humans got to eat too. We choose to eat a lot of stuff that's in the ocean. So that is one common problem with a lot of animals, especially animals in the sea. And then also you have, unfortunately people taking some animals for, this is not disclaimer. This is not the case for most aquariums. This is not the case for most things like that benefit off of seeing the animals. But sometimes that is the case that people take it for entertainment. So as sad as that is, it's a sad truth. Moving on to y'all favorite part, usually of the episode. And I try not to say this earlier because I, I hate ruining fun facts early on because it's so interesting, but either way, we don't hit you with these fun facts. Okay. So the first one, did you know that octopuses have three hearts? Not one, not two, but three hearts y'all. Y'all think y'all know how to get your heart broken. You only got one. Imagine having three. They have three hearts. One heart pumps blood around the body and the other two hearts pump blood to their heels so they can breathe and get on about their life. Funny enough. It's so funny how they only live three to five years, but they have three hearts. Interesting. That's how they remain. Another cool fact about them is they have a thick blue blood. The blue blood is because they have more copper in their blood and not an efficient oxygen carrier. They don't have as much oxygen in their blood as we do, which is why our blood is not blue. When you're lacking the oxygen, they need is copper. Not a lot of oxygen. So because of this, they get a lot of their oxygen from the water. So they favor more cooler oxygen, rich sides of the water. So when temperatures change or when there's like pollution changing environment, they might move to another area that suits them better for their blue blood. And the final, the final fact of today is they have a donut shaped brain. I just thought that was cool. Yeah. Oh, before I forget their eyes are not bound by muscles or, I don't know if I said it right, but their eyes are not bound by, wow, the word excuse me, bones like ours are. So they almost have 360 degrees vision. Like they can see in front of them with one eye and behind them with the other eye. Wow. Go see you octopus. Um, go to your aquarium, go to YouTube, wherever you need to go. Go watch the octopus video. I have to say, I was just truly amazed by the way they maneuver and hunt. Anyways, tune in next time, next Friday, every Friday, I keep saying this, every Friday, so you can see what animal we're going to learn next. And I appreciate everybody that has followed, that has reached out to me, that has given me feedback and taking the time out your day to listen to the podcast. And I appreciate it. I hope you learned something. I taught you something. I hope I provided you a break from your everyday life. And I'll see you when we come back again, that is wildlife wonder podcast on Instagram, reach out to me, tell me what you think and see you next time.