{"id":198332,"date":"2025-12-22T16:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/198332\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T16:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:41:08","slug":"2025-hailed-as-year-of-the-octopus-as-record-numbers-spotted-off-english-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/198332\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 hailed as \u2018year of the octopus\u2019 as record numbers spotted off English coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wildlife Trusts have officially designated 2025 as “the year of the octopus” following an surge in numbers of the creatures along England’s southern coastline.<\/p>\n

This population explosion represents the most significant octopus bloom witnessed in British waters since 1950, according to the charity’s annual review of the nation’s seas.<\/p>\n

Cornwall Wildlife Trust reported a combination of gentle winter temperatures and an unusually balmy spring created ideal conditions for what conservationists are calling an “octopus bloom” stretching from Penzance in Cornwall through to south Devon.<\/p>\n

The common octopus, known scientifically as Octopus vulgaris, typically exists in such limited quantities around British shores that encounters remain exceptionally rare, making this year’s phenomenon all the more remarkable.<\/p>\n

The sheer magnitude of this year’s influx has astonished marine experts. <\/p>\n

Approximately 233,000 octopuses were landed by fishers in UK waters during 2025, representing a staggering thirteen-fold increase on typical annual figures.<\/p>\n

Marine Conservation Officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust Matt Slater said: “The scale of the catch [recorded by local fishers] was of the order of about 13 times what we would normally expect in Cornish waters.<\/p>\n

“When we added up the numbers, approximately 233,000 octopuses were caught in UK waters this year, that’s a huge increase from what you would normally expect.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

There has been a rise in octopi in the seas around Cornwall<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

The favourable weather patterns proved crucial for larval survival rates. <\/p>\n

Abundant spider crab populations recorded along the south coast in recent years may also have contributed by providing plentiful food sources for the growing octopus population.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented abundance meant these intelligent creatures could be observed in shallow waters with ease for the first time in living memory. <\/p>\n

Divers captured footage showing octopuses congregating in groups, a striking departure from their typically solitary nature, while others were filmed traversing the seabed by walking on the tips of their limbs. <\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Around 233,000 octopuses were landed by fishers in UK waters during 2025<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

One bold individual was even recorded attempting to grab an underwater camera.<\/p>\n

Mr Slater said: “The first time I dived off the Lizard peninsula this year I saw five octopuses. And these are big. <\/p>\n

“There are two types of octopus in UK waters. There is the curled octopus, which is quite small, only getting to about the size of a football, but these common octopuses can be up to a metre and a half wide.”<\/p>\n

With another mild winter forecast heading into 2026, Mr Slater suggested a second consecutive bloom remains possible, noting historical patterns show these population surges have previously repeated across two successive years.<\/p>\n

\"\\u200b<\/p>\n

A collision between an oil tanker and a container ship in the North Sea in March spilling huge quantities of plastic resin pellets<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

Mr Slater said: “However, it is unlikely, based on past events, that it will go on for a long time.<\/p>\n

“But the sea keeps giving us surprises at the moment so it’s quite an unpredictable situation.”<\/p>\n

Beyond octopuses, the Wildlife Trusts highlighted other positive developments including record grey seal numbers at South Walney nature reserve in Cumbria and an all-time high of 46,000 puffins counted on Skomer island off the Welsh coast.<\/p>\n

However, Head of Marine Conservation at the Wildlife Trusts Ruth Williams issued a warning about the state of Britain’s coastline. <\/p>\n

\"Puffin\"\/<\/p>\n

A record 46,000 puffins recorded on Skomer, Pembrokeshire, by the Wildlife Trusts of South and West Wales, <\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

She said: “The year was bookended by environmental disasters.<\/p>\n

“[There was] the North Sea tanker collision in March and in November the release of tonnes of biobeads off the Sussex coast.<\/p>\n

“Our Wildlife Trusts staff and volunteers are making huge efforts to protect and restore our shorelines.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wildlife Trusts have officially designated 2025 as “the year of the octopus” following an surge in numbers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[242,85,46,43,141,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-198332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}