Do Not Taunt The Octopus.

It's been kind of quiet over here at the coffeeshop. I have been very busy with the production of My Fair Lady that I am in and find myself with not enough hours in a day. You should see my laundry pile! Last week I received a link to this article in my email box from my old mentor. I have absolutely no problem with people harvesting animals for food. What bothers me is the manner in which this gentleman harvested the octopus. The animal suffered needlessly. If you are going to kill an animal for food, you should really do it humanely. A clean, quick kill. Also, I am not entirely convinced he harvested the animal with the intention of eating it. Giant Pacific Octopuses are terminal reproducers, just like salmon. They spawn, then die. The females stay alive for 4-6 months after laying their eggs. They guard their eggs and aerate them by blowing water over them. In this time, their bodies are slowly degenerating. The octopus that was harvested was a female guarding her eggs. I assure you she would not have been very tasty to eat. Nevermind that harvesting a female with eggs also means that 80.000 larval octopuses were killed as well. Octopus babies do not need their mother after they hatch, but a batch of unguarded eggs is just a free lunch down in the ocean. All in all, I find that this diver acted unethically. He also apparently never heard the story of Devilfish bay. It goes a little something like this: Once upon a time there was a native Alaskan village near a bay where a giant octopus lived. Some teenaged boys foolishly taunted the giant octopus and that night, it ate their whole village, leaving only three survivors. I had the great pleasure of meeting someone from the clan that this story came from. They are quite serious about their giant octopuses up here. It is a good read, I highly recommend the book. Oh, and of course the moral of the story and this post: Do not taunt the giant octopus!