#34189: coturnix — 08/07  at  02:21 PM
OT, but a really cool collection of fossils:
http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/vertpaleo/ashfall.html
(via Russlings)

#34195: — 08/07  at  02:40 PM
Holy Tentacoli, Batman!

#34212: — 08/07  at  04:37 PM
Holy crap! It doesn't even seem that fast, but the shark looks completely surprised!

#34217: — 08/07  at  06:03 PM
WOW! I love the stuff I find on this blog. I'm using last weekend's snake picture as my laptop wallpaper, and I just sent the url for this video to all my non-blog-reading friends.

Thanks VERY much.

#34223: — 08/07  at  08:13 PM
As best I recall, this is footage from the Seattle Aquarium. They figured, and this must have been years ago, because I've seen this several times since then, that the octopus, a giant pacific octopus, would be reasonably safe in a community tank because it could hide.
The story goes that they kept coming in in the mornings to find the leftovers of spiny dogfish, and had no idea what was going on. So they set up some cameras, and found themselves watching the octopus indulge in midnight snacks.
The Aquarium currently has three giant pacific octopus, which are all in separate tanks, with some wolf eels, which apparently they leave alone.
They also, the last time I was there a few weeks ago, have cuttlefish. Which is totally cool.

#34231: — 08/07  at  09:29 PM
Size matters.

#34277: — 08/08  at  10:11 AM
The ability to not die when you stop moving also matters, when fighting an octopus.

#34309: ekzept — 08/08  at  03:21 PM
octopus to aquarium staff: "Good sport, mates. Send me more."

i dislike house cats, always feeling that if i were getting a cat, i'd like a real cat, something like a cougar.

maybe i should think about an octopus.... but those darned salt water tanks ...

#34332: — 08/08  at  05:05 PM
Sadly, the majority of octopods don't live long enough to get too attached (no pun intended) to them, either.

The Seattle Aquarium turns the big ones loose on a regular basis, with a certain amount of fanfare, and starts over again. They generally have a couple of big ones and a couple of small ones on exhibit at any given time, but the turnover is fairly fast, at least annually, based on what they tell me when I ask what the names of the current pretties are.

As to housecats, mine are encouraged to watch programs about sabretooth cats and extant wild cats. We rewind the good attacks and watch them over again.
They seem to get into it. They are, after all, nearly as smart as an octopus.

Trackback: Nature red in beak and tentacle Tracked on: Majikthise (66.151.149.25) at 2005 08 07 12:28:34
Via PZ Myers, amazing octopus vs. shark footage.

Trackback: Wow. Tracked on: The Republic of Heaven (72.9.234.70) at 2005 08 08 20:53:52
Amazing. I don't know how else to describe this footage of an octopus encountering a shark in the Seattle aquarium. I love fish and aquariums. We are lucky in the DC area to have a really super aquarium close by in Baltimore. The best aquarium I've e...