The Blind Man Society

Good afternoon everyone, hope all of you are having a great day wherever you may be out there. I’m taking a break and writing on one of my favorite subjects. Some of the ocean’s best jewels. And, there’s a surprise at the end of this one…

The first jewel, is the Blue Ringed Octopus. Blue Rings are small masters of camouflage – beautiful and absolutely deadly. These (and all other octopus) also possess a very high intellect. They change colors and contort their skin to blend with their environments, and depending on the species have varying levels of venom toxicity that is delivered through their parrot-like beak. In the case of the Blue Ring Octopus (H. Maculosa) found in Australian waters, and it’s sub-species (H. Lunulata) found in Indian waters, the rings are an electric iridescent blue that light up when the animal is agitated. Ironically, this makes people want to pick them up and play with them – but, take my word for it, you don’t want to do that. In the grand scheme of touch-me-nots in this world, they rank high up there. They deliver their venom through biting, but also are able to release the venom into the surrounding water and obtain prey that breathes it in.

The second jewel, is the Mimic Octopus found in the waters of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Borneo, and the Phillipines.  Wunderpus Photogenicus is able to change its body appearance to mimic flounder, lionfish, stingrays, sea snakes and other animals to avoid being accosted or hunted underwater. This is because they live in mud flats where there isn’t a lot of shelter or corals and rocks to blend with. Their colors are copper and white, and they live in burrows.

I personally kept an Octopus Cyaneus as a pet during my time as a saltwater specialist at the pet store and WOW was he fun and interesting. I fixed his tank up beautifully to prepare for his arrival, and once there, he promptly trashed the whole thing and rebuilt it how he wanted. I changed it back quickly and he turned dark purple to let me know he was very angry with me, and trashed it all over again. So, I learned rapidly to let it, and him, be. Who says people aren’t trainable?

My opinion is that none of these species, or octopus in general, do well in captivity for very long. In captivity, unfertilized females will lay eggs and guard them until they starve. The males do live longer, but octopus were built to roam and be free – not to be contained in an aquarium. Sexing them, is extremely difficult.  And, they are true predators. Being escape artists extraordinaire, they have been known to leave their tanks at night and jump in neighboring fish tanks to eat. Once done, they return home and usually observe the mystified fish owner trying to figure out what happened to his prize specimens… I even saw a program years ago, that showed a Giant Pacific octopus (O. Dofleini) catching a smaller shark as it swam by.

I’m not sure what the current statistics are for the decline of these and other jewels of the oceans around the world – but I do know that these animals are gifts to this planet and it seems like their numbers are unfortunately shrinking out there. (It goes without saying that ALL animals are jewels and gifts, and unfortunately many are declining). My opinion, is that they make life very rich for us all, even if you are unable to see them in their natural habitat. I think that like people, sometimes just knowing that they are out there working their brand of magic in the environment can be enough.  

My parting thoughts on these jewels, lead me to this question: do any of you model your approaches off of the conduct or styles of animals out there in this world?  As an example, there is the Nature Style of Kung Fu in which the movements of certain animals like the tiger, leopard, snake, crane and praying mantis are incorporated into fighting movements.  I’ll take this idea one step further, and postulate (and if you ask me, I’ll deny) that perhaps some of these animals are copied or modeled in the workplace?  One step further, are historical or famous animals modeled in the workplace?  And yes – I threw this in because I think this is a really FUN conversation topic!  I’m bringing this one up myself at the shop next time I’m there…

Have a GREAT day everyone!

**Blue Ring Octopus photo credit: Dreamstime**