Celebrate World Octopus Day Every October 8

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On October 8 we celebrate the weird but wonderful sea creature the octopus. Yep, it’s World Octopus Day.

Why do we celebrate the octopus?

Why not? They’re fascinating!

So join us in celebrating World Octopus Day every October 8.

 

A Taste of Octopus Trivia

You know how we call really old things dinosaurs? Well, we should actually call them octopuses! (or octopi … Apparently both are ok).

Why you ask?

Glad you asked!

Because octopuses are older than dinosaurs!

That’s right, octopuses existed before dinosaurs. Scientists have found octopus fossils that are more than 300 million years old. Dinosaurs are “only” around 240 million years old.

And they’re still around. Dinosaurs are long gone.

The next Jurassic Park movie needs octopuses!

They’re also smart. They can learn and even solve problems. They have around 500 million neurons. Now this is a lot fewer than the 86 billion neurons in a human brain, but its brain isn’t quite the same as ours.

Only about 1/3 of an octopus’ neurons are in the centralized location we call a brain. The rest are in its arms. And those arms can act independently of the brain. So really it has 8 little mini-brains in its arms.

And those mini-brains let octopus arms react to stimuli even after they’ve been cut off from the body.

And while you probably have a picture in your head of what an octopus looks like, you’re wrong!

Ok, not completely wrong, but there’s a lot of different octopuses out there (300 recognized species!). And they don’t all look alike. They come in lots of different colors and sizes.

There’s the biggest known species, the Giant Pacific Octopus. It can get to be more than 600 pounds. Then there’s the smallest: Octopus Wolfi is only 0.6 inches long and weighs less than .035 ounces.

There’s all kinds in between, including this undeniably adorable critter, Octopus Adorabilis.

A few more morsels of octopus trivia:

• They have 3 hearts.
• Their blood is blue, and it’s the reason they can survive in their cold sea homes.
• They are nocturnal (active at night).
• They’re also the original chameleon … They can change their skin color and texture to blend into their surroundings.
• A female giant Pacific octopus spends about a year after laying eggs protecting them from harm. She doesn’t eat during this time and dies shortly after they hatch.

 

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial cephalopod holiday.

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Ideas For Celebrating World Octopus Day

If there’s an aquatic life center near you, visit and marvel at the octopuses living there.

And of course you can always spend some time learning more about octopuses. You might be surprised at what you find out.

These web pages are a good place to start:

• The Alien Brains Living on Earth
• Common octopus on National Geographic
• Octopuses & kin from Monterey Bay Aquarium. Includes information on several different octopus species.
• The Mimic Octopus: Master of Disguise
• Through the Eye of an Octopus

 

You might also like these books:

• Octopus: The Ocean’s Intelligent Invertebrate, by Roland C. Anderson, et al.
• The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, by Sy Montgomery
• Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea, by Katherine Harmon Courage

 

Your kids might enjoy:

• Gentle Giant Octopus: Read and Wonder, by Karen Wallace. Recommended for ages 4-8.
• An Octopus Is Amazing, by Patricia Lauber. Recommended for ages 4-8.

 

Happy World Octopus Day from the National Aquarium:

 

If you never saw the video of a little octopus thanking the man who rescued it (or if you have but want to see it again!), take a look:

 

How will you be celebrating World Octopus Day this year?

 

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