![\"250930penderoctopus2\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/250930penderoctopus2.JPG;w=960.jpeg\"\/)
\nA seven-armed octopus was found washed ashore on South Pender Island in August. Courtesy of Kathleen Durant <\/p>\n
A wolf eel carcass or a Bigg\u2019s killer whale\u2019s discarded harbour porpoise snack might make for a gruesome but fascinating shoreline discovery \u2013\u00a0but for South Pender Island\u2019s Kathleen Durant, that\u2019s small fry.<\/p>\n
During an August morning ramble with her Australian shepherd pooch near her waterfront home, Durant stumbled upon what some call the \u201cwhite whale\u201d of the cephalopod world: a seven-armed octopus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it looked very, very odd \u2026 and that it may be a squid or something like a really big lion\u2019s mane jellyfish, because it was very gelatinous and shiny,\u201d Durant said. \u201cThen I saw this big eye staring back at me, and thought, \u2018Oh, you don\u2019t look like a jelly.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mystified by the strange creature washed ashore, Durant turned to the Field Naturalists of Vancouver Island Facebook group for help, sharing her photos online.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when marine biologist Casey Cook, from the Port of Bellingham Marine Life Center, took notice. A self-described \u201coctopus nerd,\u201d Cook says she knew right away Durant\u2019s find was something special.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe seven-armed octopus is one of the most elusive species,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that makes it just like a \u2018white whale\u2019 \u2026 to be able to see a photo of one is very cool, because people don’t see them often and we know so little about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nA seven-armed octopus was found washed ashore on South Pender Island in August. Courtesy of Kathleen Durant
<\/p>\n
According to Cook, only a handful of confirmed sightings of the deep-sea species, which is also known as the blob octopus, have been recorded in the Pacific Northwest \u2013\u00a0including one by Victoria diver Cam Polglase, who filmed the creature in waters near Ogden Point in 2023.<\/p>\n
Most documented encounters come from the Atlantic Ocean, where the species was first identified \u2013 hence its Latin name, haliphron atlanticus.<\/p>\n
For Cook, Durant\u2019s discovery raises new questions about the species\u2019 range. \u201cCan we even call it an Atlantic octopus anymore?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n
The South Pender specimen now has a permanent home at Victoria\u2019s Royal BC Museum (RCBM), who confirmed it to be a juvenile female, measuring almost four feet in length \u2013 one of its eight legs stretching more than 31 inches.<\/p>\n
Eight legs?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, you read that correctly \u2013 so why the oxymoronic name?<\/p>\n
The male of the species has one specialized arm used for reproduction, which it keeps coiled in a sac beneath the right eye. Because of the animal\u2019s thick, gelatinous tissue, the arm is so well concealed that at first glance, it appears to only have seven arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The female, on the other hand \u2013 or should that be tentacle \u2013 has no reason to hide any appendages, keeping all eight on display.<\/p>\n
“So initially, the findings were that this was an animal with only seven arms \u2013 not due to injury, but because that’s all it had,\u201d explains Cook.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Growing to a size of around 13 feet, the seven-armed \u2018blob\u2019 rivals the giant Pacific octopus as the largest of the species.<\/p>\n
Although typically a deep-sea dweller, Durant says RBCM staff believe, based on the limited research available, that juveniles may spend time nearer the surface before moving into deep water as adults.<\/p>\n
If that theory holds, Cook speculates that the Pacific Northwest specimens could have been transported in the ballast water of tankers and ships navigating trade routes, then released into unfamiliar territory.<\/p>\n
Because of the ongoing B.C. General Employees\u2019 Union provincewide service strike, museum staff were unable to comment on the most recent find when approached by Victoria News.<\/p>\n
Durant, who hand-delivered the frozen octopus to Victoria, says the museum plans to preserve it using formaldehyde, which is injected into the animal slowly as it thaws.<\/p>\n
The experience has deepened Durant\u2019s passion for the ocean \u2013 and the value of citizen science.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know when you might stumble on something important,\u201d she said. \u201cI just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and it turned into something that contributes to science.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for future walks along South Pender\u2019s shores, Durant says the seven-armed octopus discovery will be tough to top \u2013 though with the ocean, you can never be too sure what secrets the next tide might reveal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ocean\u2019s mysteries don\u2019t always swim at 6,000 feet,\u201d she says, quoting Cook. \u201cSometimes they\u2019re right at our feet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A wolf eel carcass or a Bigg\u2019s killer whale\u2019s discarded harbour porpoise snack might make for a gruesome…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,98525,66,323],"class_list":["post-199525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-royal-bc-museumwildlifepender-island","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}