A giant, color-changing creature is swimming through tide pools in Oregon, video shows
A color-changing creature that is a “master of disguise” swims through tide pools at the Oregon coast, a video shows.
As it glides through the shallow water and reaches a rocky spot, its coloring and texture changes.
It’s a tactic giant Pacific octopuses use to express their mood, hide from predators or to scare them off.
This octopus was recorded in tide pools at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area and posted by the Department of the Interior on Feb. 16.
“This amazing creature is spotted at this locale only a few times a year, though they probably visit more often,” the agency said in the post.
Tide pools are an “isolated pocket of seawater” that form on rocky shorelines when the tide recedes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Many types of sea life live in them, including snails, barnacles, mussels, anemones, urchins, sea stars, crustaceans, seaweed.
This octopus is “actually quite small,” officials said.
Giant Pacific octopuses can have an arm span measuring from 7 feet to more than 13 feet, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They live about three to five years.
They usually live among reefs and man-made coastal structures that are dim, dark and have deep crevices to hide in, the aquarium said.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 11:10 AM with the headline "A giant, color-changing creature is swimming through tide pools in Oregon, video shows."
