“My Octopus Teacher.” Image courtesy of Netflix.

This week, many individuals are celebrating the return of one of summer’s favorite pastimes…Shark Week.

At Falvey Library, we’re spotlighting a few unsung sea creatures on the blog. Should octopuses have their own week on the Discovery channel? Of course they should. I mean, they have three hearts! For additional information on octopuses (yes, that is the plural of ‘octopus’) check out the resources below.

Octopus Fast Facts:

• Venomous.
• Taste with their skin.
• Can solve puzzles and use tools.
• Change color and texture—excellent camouflage abilities.
• Good hunters on and off land (they can leave the water for minutes at a time).
• Octopuses can fit through any opening larger than their parrot-like beaks.
• Can squirt deadly ink at predators.
• Their arms (not tentacles) can even react after they’ve been completely severed.
• Have blue blood.
• Most species only live between one and two years.
• Can change their body shape to mimic other animals.

Recommended Resources for Cephalopod Fans:

• Octopus (Schweid, 2013)
• My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
• Filmmaker Finds An Unlikely Underwater Friend In ‘My Octopus Teacher’ (NPR)
• Guide to squid, cuttlefish and octopuses of Australasia (Norman, 2000)
• Octopod: Inside The Amazing World Of The Octopus (NPR)
• Octopuses (Academic Video Online)
• Smartest Animals, Part 2 (Academic Video Online)
• Cephalopods of Australia and sub-Antarctic territories (Reid, 2016)
• Cirrate octopods with associated deep-sea organisms new biological data based on deep benthic photographs (Cephalopoda) (Roper, 1972)
• Octopus (ScienceDirect)
• Octopus (Academic Search Ultimate)
• WATCH: Octopuses Punch Fish, Sometimes For No Apparent Reason (NPR)
• Blue Planet II (Academic Video Online)
• Sleeping Octopuses May Have Dreams, But They’re Probably Brief (NPR)
• Octopuses (National Geographic)

Check back tomorrow for some fun facts on narwhals!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.