When scientists put hidden cameras known as BRUVS (baited remote underwater video systems) on the seafloor, they are usually prepared to see almost anything.
But when the National Geographic Pristine Seas team placed a BRUVS setup on a reef habitat near Niulakita, a small island in the south of Tuvalu, something particularly surprising happened: a curious octopus tugged their weighted camera hard enough to shift it from its position. They shared the video of this tug-o’-war on Instagram.
“In this footage we see a day octopus (Octopus cyanea) pulling the bait canister of the BRUVS towards its perch on a nearby rock and starting to investigate it with its arms,” says Chris Thompson, a marine ecologist at National Geographic Pristine Seas.
The octopus approaches the baited camera, before heaving it across the rocks. Credit: National Geographic Pristine Seas
Octopuses are incredibly intelligent and have special ways of sensing the world around them, such as through chemical sensors on their arms.
“Octopuses hunt by ‘tasting’ with special receptors on the suckers of their arms,” says Thompson. “So, once it gets a hold of the canister, this octopus starts feeling around, tastes the delicious sardines inside, and starts trying to get inside.”
Moving the camera is no easy feat. “These camera rigs (BRUVS) are weighted down with lead weights on their legs and are pretty heavy (about 10-15kg) so it’s pretty impressive that the octopus can move it!” he says.
Image and video credit: National Geographic Pristine Seas
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