The Soul of an Octopus

Montgomery, Sy. The Soul of an Octopus. New York: Atria 2015. Print

First Sentences:

On a rare, warm day in mid-March, when the snow was melting into mud in New Hampshire, I traveled to Boston where everyone was strolling along the harbor or sitting on benches licking ice cream cones.

But I quit the blessed sunlight for the moist, dim sanctuary of the New England Aquarium.

I had a date with a giant Pacific octopus. 





Description:

I know nothing about octopuses except that I saw one once while snorkeling in Puerto Rico, and that I don't like to eat them. But then I recently read Jim Al-Khalili's Aliens: The World's Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterestrial Life which stated we should not presume we will be able to communicate with extra-terrestrials when we cannot even understand a complex, thinking animal on our own earth: the octopus.

So I turned to Sy Montgomery's brilliant The Soul of an Octopus. Naturalist author Montgomery is offered the opportunity to observe scientists and octopuses at the New England Aquarium and later in the wild. Her observations and stories about octopuses (not "octupi" since the name derives from the Greek, not Latin) from the researchers are astonishing:

• An octopus can manipulate locks, squeeze out of almost any container, move across a room, enter another tank and then slide into a drain to explore the world or escape;

• They enjoy being petted and will rise to the top of their barrel-shaped tank to be touched by a human and touch back with their suckers. But be careful as they can grab an arm and easily pull an unsuspecting person into the tank. And they can bite with a dangerously sharp beak due to exploration, fear, or hunger;

• They lay their eggs onto a spiderweb-like netting they create, and tend the net until the eggs open.

• They need physical and mental stimulation, so are given toys, hoses, and locking cubes which they like to disassemble

Montgomery forms relationships with aquarium octopuses Athena, Kali, Rain, Octavia, and Squirt, observing and interacting with them from outside their tanks, noticing their daily emotions, and checking their responses to various stimuli like music. She even learns to scuba dive in hopes of seeing a wild octopus outside the zoo environment.

Who knew an octopus could hunt using various strategies? That an octopus can carry around abandoned shells to use as temporary protection, and even move rocks to shore up a defense for their cave? That they are solitary creatures who only interact with other octopuses to mate? Fascinating observations and stories emerge on every page.

So little is still know about these creatures, but clearly the discoveries made by the New England Aquarium and Montgomery are slowly revealing the intelligence, curiosity, affection, and creativity of these animals.

I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone seeking to learn about another sentient life here on our very own earth. A very rewarding book on many levels.

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Sroksnes, Morten. Shark Drunk: The Art of Catching a Large Shark from a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean  

Everything you always wanted to know about great white sharks from the author and other scientists studying them off the coast of San Francisco. Maybe this sounds boring, but really it is extremely interesting and exciting. (Previously reviewed here.)