Paul Naylor offers a biologist’ s perspective on what has proven to be the‘ Year of the Octopus’
CRITTERCONFIDENTIAL
Common Octopus
An octopus with its body spread out across the seabed, presumably aiming to be less conspicuous
Octopus vulgaris
Paul Naylor offers a biologist’ s perspective on what has proven to be the‘ Year of the Octopus’
Octopus resting on the seabed
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You certainly don’ t need‘ Critter Confidential’ to tell you that the population explosion or‘ bloom’ of Common Octopus( Octopus vulgaris) around the south-west of England this year has been big news. Most of the headlines have concentrated on their impact on the fishing industry. Catches of crabs and other shellfish that the octopuses prey on have been greatly reduced, while some fishers have benefited from huge and extremely valuable hauls of the octopuses themselves. Although other octopus‘ plagues’ have been reported over the last century, they seem to be getting more frequent. If, as suspected, the‘ blooms’ of this warm-water species follow mild winters that allow more of their young to survive here, we are going to see many more as our oceans gradually heat up due to climate change.
Nevertheless, and whatever happens to their numbers in the future, I think 2025 will be remembered as‘ The Year of the Octopus’ by many divers that live in or visit the southwest. They have been seen at a great variety of popular sites this summer, with divers regularly seeing up to a dozen on a single dive. It’ s not just the frequency of sightings that have made impressions; it’ s clear from numerous conversations and social media posts that the nature of encounters with these intelligent and sophisticated animals have been highly memorable. Two certainly stand out for me and rank among my most special underwater moments in over 40 years of diving.
The first was at Porthkerris on the Lizard, a notable and very accessible hotspot for octopus sightings. I had several great views of octopuses during my first two shore dives of the day but they hadn’ t quite hit the mark. Despite approaching as cautiously as I could, all the individuals I met seemed well-aware of my presence. Judging by the way they remained where they were or retreated only