The octopus curled up into a solitary blob, in a corner, at the bottom of it's white plastic tank, and began her career as the most boring exhibit at the Marine Science Center. And there she lingered, until one day, when a man walked in, yanked her out of her seclusion, raised her up into the air, and began to play with her.

Back then our local marine scientists were amateurs, volunteers, just starting out in the business of showing off the wonders of the waters of the Puget Sound. They didn't know much about the proper care of octopus, or what to think about this man who more or less took octopus/human relations into his own hands. There were too many unanswered questions, like what are the effects of human touch on octopi? But before they had time to react, this man's intervention was a fait acompli.

Afterwards the octopus was no longer content to spend her life as a lifeless blob on the bottom of a white plastic tank - she began to crave attention and adventure. Fortunately, at the time, my four year old son, Sam, was being babysat by the Marine Science Center while his mother worked there. 

The octopus would float near the surface upside down while Sam played with her suction cups, tracing circles around the edges until the octopus gently sucked his finger into the center. She would drape one of her tentacles over Sam's hand, and he would slowly lift his hand, letting the octopus' tentacle slide over it. Over and over again, the octopus' tentacle would slide over Sam's hand in a slow dance/massage motion. They could play together all day and never get bored, which was a good thing, since we couldn't afford a babysitter.

The story had a tragic ending. One night the lid to the octopus tank wasn't secured as tightly as it should have been, and octopus squeezed her way through a tiny gap, only to end up dehydrated and dead on the floor.

Octopus Touch and Taste

Watching Sam and octopus play together, it was hard not to believe that they had created a special bond. I can imagine what Sam experienced, but what about the octopus? What did the octopus experience?   

If there is such a thing as octopus intelligence, it is most likely very different from our own. We communicate mostly through our senses of sight and sound. Our minds manipulate images, we identify ourselves with an internal narrative that we experience as an internal voice.

If octopus are intelligent they might think and communicate through touch and taste. Their memories and ideas would consist mostly of touches and tastes. They would describe each other by how they tasted and felt. It would be completely different way of perceiving the world.

We are so different from octopus, that there’s probably little we could say to each other - but we might have a lot to touch.


Octopus intelligence:   http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6474/

Octopus sex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSvq7GdFwvY