The Blanket Octopus

For the past six months, I’ve had a fascination with the octopus. I’ve been curious about these creatures for a good long while, but the documentary, My Octopus Teacher (which I highly recommend) sealed the deal for me. I feel an affinity with octopuses in general. They are adaptable, crafty, resourceful, fierce, and wicked smart. You have to be all of those things to survive in a world full of sharks who want to eat you when you are as soft and squishy as an octopus – or when you are a human with a big heart.

We speak often about the importance of a connection with the other-than-human world, and this is it. Seeing, studying, witnessing another being. Recognizing that it, too, has intelligence and soul. Different than mine, but equally essential and worthy of awe and respect. This means, of course, that my existence (and yours) is also essential, and worthy of awe and respect. 

The octopus below, known as the blanket octopus, is rarely seen by humans and looks something like a combination between an octopus and a butterfly. Living in the open ocean, the female is up to 40,000 times bigger than the male, and she has this incredible web – or blanket – between two of her arms. If you have a few minutes, watch this video. Take in this creature and see what you notice in yourself:

Imagine her, deep in the tropical ocean, so very far away. What changes about you, the oceans, the world, as you contemplate her existence? For me, the dark, blank blue that is the open ocean starts to fill in. What else is down there, I begin to wonder. If I'm willing to wonder what else is down 'there' perhaps I'll have more curiosity and capacity to wonder what else is right 'here'.

The Internet tells me that she unfurls her blanket when she is under threat in order to increase her size and ward off predators. But as I take in her beauty… I have a hard time believing that’s the whole story.