Video: Birth of an octopus (and 49,999 more) off West Seattle

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Got a few minutes to watch something amazing? Just off West Seattle shores, the hatching of tens of thousands of Giant Pacific Octopi was documented by diver Laurynn Evans. The video’s been on YouTube since last fall but it’s getting national attention because Laurynn sent it to NPR’s Robert Krulwich, who wrote about it today (we’ll forgive him the “Harbor Avenue in downtown West Seattle” reference) – WSB’er Lisa saw his story and suggested we share it here.

Petert June 6, 2011 (1:38 pm)

Fantastic video ! Amazing to think that this takes place only a couple of hundred feet from where hundreds of cars, pedestrians, and bikers pass every day. I know I’ll never look at this part of the bay the same way again.

Eliza June 6, 2011 (1:59 pm)

Wow. there are just so many of them! What a cool video! Thanks for sharing!

Kent June 6, 2011 (2:26 pm)

Awesome!!! Thank you for sharing.

onceachef June 6, 2011 (2:41 pm)

Great video! Go you little suckers, go! :)

Shoshanna June 6, 2011 (3:15 pm)

Very Awesome to have this documented, thanks to great detective and camera work. I love octopus(es)and I would love to see them not being eaten anymore! Wish I could start a movement to stop them from being harvested for food. They are super-intelligent beings and have a fairly difficult and rather short life. All Hail Octopus!

Lola June 6, 2011 (4:42 pm)

Very cool. A question, if I may: are the hatchlings impacted by the artificial light? They’re normally born into darkness, right?

cakeordeath June 6, 2011 (7:41 pm)

loved it! thanks. :)

Kelly June 6, 2011 (8:31 pm)

Breathtaking and magical. (The baby octos, of course, but also the sounds of magical underwater birds chirping in the background. Did that not make anyone else laugh?)

doggydodo June 6, 2011 (9:56 pm)

Mesmerizing… and to think we’re living side by side, right off Harbor Ave! Somehow, we need them and they need us, but ???? Will we ever figure it out?

I kept cheering those little babies on… they must be so vulnerable at that tiny size.

I didn’t hear the birds chirping — but it makes sense…apparently what you don’t know is that baby octopi make bird sounds… yea, they do. They also can imitate a dog barking when they get frightened.

kte June 7, 2011 (12:44 am)

@Kelly: I heard the “birds” too! Strange :)
@WSB: Thanks for sharing! My 3yr old and I watched it, mesmerized. “They’re so cute!” he said. Also, we got a kick out of the “Happy Birthday Baby Octopusesssss!”

35this35mph June 7, 2011 (9:23 am)

Unbelievably beautiful! Thank you. I only wish Mom (Opal?) could have been talked into making a cameo!

cmorris987 June 7, 2011 (10:28 am)

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing this.

seainggreen June 7, 2011 (12:59 pm)

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments!

As for the question about artificial light impact; I intentionally kept the camera close to the den and did not follow the babies up into the water column. The presence of lights kept away predators that would lurk at the entrance, and once the babies left the bottom/den, they were on their own. We also did not disclose the location of the den so we were the only team diving this location during the hatch.

As for the music, I loved the tune but had no way to edit out the preliminary bird sounds… oh well… but think the rest of it “fit”. Just think of the chirping as added bonus!

Carter June 7, 2011 (8:20 pm)

Pretty amazing footage. Oh, how I appreciate all the effort that went into this. Thank you . . .

Sandi June 7, 2011 (8:20 pm)

Amazing. Thank you for sharing.

Reality June 8, 2011 (1:20 pm)

Great video and quite fascinating! Now I know what is below me when kayaking around there!

In reference to DOGGYDODO’S comment that: “Somehow, we need them and they need us”. No the octopus do not need us, they did fine without us for many centuries! That is such an outrageous statement! They and all of the other marine animals would be far better off without humans dumping PCB’s and other pollutants into the Sound, not to mention people harvesting crabs and other fish daily! Without strict controls, wildlife in the Sound is at peril from humans! Save the Sound from short-sighted humans!

Trileigh June 8, 2011 (5:50 pm)

I’m out of town and just catching up on WSB news – this was GREAT! Thank you so much to the wonderful diver/videographers and especially to Opal. What a wonderful (and completely unique) reminder of how terrific our West Seattle community is, both above and below the water line!

DOGGYDODO June 8, 2011 (6:43 pm)

“Reality”, we all are in the web of life my dear… so of course we all need each other, not so ridiculous as you say. It is the interconnectedness that needs to be stressed, not the “humans suck” attitude, in my opinion I might add. It is in the determination of why we are needed and why we need them that will lead us to salvation. If they don’t need us, then who is going to enforce those “strict controls” you talk about :) The starfish? Not all humans are short-sighted. Given your comments it sounds like you are advocating that all humans should take a long leap off a short and very high bridge.

BitterSweet June 9, 2011 (2:15 am)

While gorgeous, this is also kinda sad. Female octopuses die shortly after their eggs hatch.

WSB June 9, 2011 (6:18 am)

Yes, Robert Krulwich’s story (linked in here as the original source) pointed that out.

Reality June 9, 2011 (11:36 am)

DOGGYPOOPOO hides behind religious wackiness to justify human encroachment on wild animals. This belief that humans are needed to save the world is absolute religious skullduggery that allows the followers to feel good about all of the problems humans create. “Lead us to salvation”. Please. Leave the religious wackiness to right wing teabaggers who sound very much like DOGGYPOOPOO.

doggydodo June 9, 2011 (8:20 pm)

The video was brilliant and so beautiful, thank you Laurynn and WSB for sharing. Reality has it wrong as to how I viewed the video… I was sincerely impacted by the video and message brought with it… I am not “religious” in my comments, “salvation” means a number of things that actually do not have anything to do with “religion”…such as : liberation from ignorance or illusion or : preservation from destruction or failure, and finally, deliverance from danger or difficulty

Nor did I suggest that humans will lead us to salvation — I said it is in the understanding of how all living things are interconnected that will keep us from undoing ourselves.

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