{"id":10166,"date":"2025-09-08T19:09:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/10166\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T19:09:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:09:15","slug":"discover-the-mysteries-of-octopuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/10166\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover The Mysteries Of Octopuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

In June 2025, the SciFri Book Club read Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses<\/a> by David Scheel. Luckily, there is also a young readers edition<\/a>, so you can learn about these amazing creatures, too! You\u2019ll learn not just about the biology and behaviors of octopuses\u2014like how they hunt, hide, and maybe even dream\u2014but also the cultural and ecological links that affect their lives, such as climate change<\/a>. As Scheel examines the key mysteries that have driven his work, he discovers just how much remains to be learned about the mysterious octopus. Below, you\u2019ll find summaries of the book\u2019s materials, discussion questions, and more.<\/p>\n

\"AThe giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) can be found along the coastal regions of the North Pacific, including California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Russia, Japan, and Korea. Credit: Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBook Summary<\/p>\n

In Many Things Under a Rock, marine biologist David Scheel<\/a> shares what it\u2019s like to search for one of the ocean\u2019s most mysterious animals, the octopus! His journey began in Alaska, where people usually focus on fish like salmon and herring, but Scheel wanted to know more about these strange cephalopods<\/a>. So, he set out to learn from Alaska Native<\/a> elders, fishermen, and divers about how to spot octopus dens under rocks.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it was tricky, because octopuses are masters at hiding! Scheel and his team used scuba gear<\/a> to catch, study, and then release the animals carefully, even though they could be large and strong. He also discovered how myths and stories<\/a> about giant sea monsters, or \u201cdevilfish<\/a>,\u201d combined with real science to shape people\u2019s beliefs.<\/p>\n

Through his adventures, Scheel realized that studying octopuses is not impossible, just challenging. By combining science with traditional knowledge, he discovered new ways to understand these amazing animals.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiscussion Questions: Chapters 1-7<\/p>\n

At the start of the book, scientist David Scheel shows you that octopuses are not just animals in the ocean. They are mysterious, almost magical, creatures from traditional stories. Before scientists studied octopuses closely, much of what was known about them came from divers, Alaska Native<\/a> storytellers, and traditions passed down through families.<\/p>\n

How did you feel about octopuses before reading this book?
\nWhat are three things you knew about octopuses before reading this book?
\nHow did the first chapters change the way you think about octopuses?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiscussion Questions: Chapters 7-11<\/p>\n

Octopuses are survival experts! They can hide in secret dens, change their skin to blend in, and even shoot ink to trick predators. Other animals in the ocean have their own clever tricks<\/a>, too, like decorator crabs<\/a> covering themselves in shells and seaweed for camouflage.<\/p>\n

In your opinion, what was the most impressive or surprising method described in the book that octopuses use to defend themselves or capture prey?
\nWhat is something that these chapters taught you about octopuses\u2019 intelligence?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiscussion Questions: Chapters 12-16<\/p>\n

Octopuses sense the world very differently from humans<\/a>. They can see special kinds of light that people can\u2019t see. Plus, their skin can \u201csee\u201d light, too. Each arm can taste, touch, and even make decisions on its own! It\u2019s almost like having eight mini-brains working together.<\/p>\n

What unusual octopus sense do you wish you had? Why?
\nWhy might having senses so different from those of mammals make an octopus\u2019s behavior unlike that of humans?
\nDid anything you read about octopus senses make you think differently about what it means to have a mind?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiscussion Questions: Chapters 17-22<\/p>\n

At the end of the book, Scheel shows that octopuses aren\u2019t always as solitary as people think. They can remember things<\/a>, throw objects at each other, and even share space sometimes. These behaviors may make you wonder if they feel emotions, just in their own unique octopus way.<\/p>\n

How did these stories change the way you think about octopuses having feelings, memories, or friends?
\nNow that you have read this book, what new ideas did you take away about how octopuses live and connect with the world?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAbout David Scheel<\/p>\n

David Scheel is a scientist, a behavioral ecologist<\/a>, who studies how animals behave. He teaches marine biology<\/a> at Alaska Pacific University<\/a>. He has been studying octopuses for more than 25 years. David appeared in a PBS show called \u201cOctopus: Making Contact<\/a>\u201d with his daughter, Laurel, and an octopus named Heidi.<\/p>\n

\"AAuthor David Scheel<\/p>\n

David learned about biology, which is the study of living things. He trained in famous places like Yellowstone National Park and parks in Africa. He even lived with lions and wild dogs in Africa for two years! In 1993, he started studying sea animals instead of land animals. He has worked with fisheries, marine birds and mammals, and marine invertebrates in Prince William Sound<\/a> and the north Gulf of Alaska.<\/p>\n

David studies how predators (animals that hunt) and their prey (animals that are hunted) coexist. He also studies where different animals like to live. Since 1995, David has been studying giant Pacific octopuses<\/a>. These octopuses live in the ocean near Alaska. He studies them by diving underwater with special gear.<\/p>\n

David has worked with Alaska Native people to learn about their knowledge of octopuses. Their families have been watching these animals for hundreds of years. David and his students even discovered a new type of octopus<\/a>!<\/p>\n

David is a trained rescue diver and takes underwater photos of sea life. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska.<\/p>\n

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Credits:
Lesson by Praise Agochi
Developmental editing by Sandy Roberts
Digital production by Sandy Roberts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In June 2025, the SciFri Book Club read Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-10166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}