 |
| The Giant Pacific Octopus Photo by: Joe Parks |
I was at an international supermarket the other day and
found octopus meat for sale. I was instantly reminded of going fishing in
Seattle’s Puget Sound!
 |
| Washington State Ferries crossing Puget Sound Photo by: Elaphurus |
I love to go fishing, but I was used to fishing in
the lakes and rivers of Indiana – not the salt waters of Puget Sound. I figured
it couldn't be that much different though, so I took a fishing pole, some hooks
and some worms down to the pier. I baited my hook and tossed the line in the
water.
I waited and waited. Nothing. Wasn’t I supposed to
catch a flounder or something?
I waited some more. Nothing. In Indiana I would have
had at least a nibble by now.
And just as my mind began to drift away like the
Washington State Ferry hauling cars across the sound, my pole lurched forward,
and my line tightened.
I tugged and reeled and tugged some more. Whatever
was on the end of my line was fighting hard to stay in the water.
When the beast finally surfaced, I could not believe
my eyes. I was expecting a fish with fins and gills, not an OCTOPUS with eight
arms! Toto, I believe we are not in Indiana anymore.
Not only had I caught an OCTOPUS, but I also found
my MUSE! And now, I would like to share this MUSE with you! Here is what I
learned about OCTOPI…
The octopus I had caught was a young Giant Pacific
Octopus. This species is native to the Puget Sound and are the largest Octopi
in the world. They grow up to 33 pounds with an arm span of up to 14 feet.
Octopi are the smartest invertebrates known to man.
They have the intelligence of a house cat, and they are known for using problem
solving skills. In captivity, octopi have learned how to open jars. Take a look
at this video and see for yourself!
Octopi have superior defense skills. They can
squeeze their soft bodies through seemingly impossible cracks. They can change
their skin color to match their environment, and they can shoot a cloud of dark
ink to confuse a predator. WOW!
The smaller an octopus species is, the more
poisonous it is (usually). The most poisonous octopus is the Blue Ringed
Octopus that lives off the coast of Australia. This little guy has enough poison to kill a human being, and they only
get four inches long. Here is video about the Blue Ringed Octopus.
Octopi usually eat mollusks and crustaceans, but
they have been known to eat each other, too. The Giant Pacific Octopus will
sometimes snag a shark for lunch. Now, that’s something to write home about. Take
a LOOK!
And please do not call an octopus’ arms, legs.
Spiders have eight legs! Octopi have eight arms! And these arms are lined with
two rows of suction cups each. They are used for holding onto things and
tasting things. Yes, I said tasting.
By the way - Octopi, Octopodes, and Octopuses are
all acceptable ways of describing more than one octopus.
With this new knowledge what kind of story could you
write? Maybe these “WHAT IF” questions will help you get started.
WHAT IF a giant octopus lived under the Tacoma
Narrows Bridge, in Tacoma WA? Oops, this legend already exists, but we could
embellish it (wink).
WHAT IF your character woke up one morning and
his/her arms and legs had turned into those of an octopus?
WHAT IF your character built a robotic octopus
submarine? What would he/she go hunting for underwater?
The possibilities are endless, and please leave your
own WHAT IF questions in the comment section below. I’d love to see what you
come up with.
So, grab a pencil and a piece of paper, and let’s
begin. With your imagination, we can go anywhere. I look forward to seeing
where you take us.
With Imagination,
Prof. Watermelon
P.S. The word of the week is “invertebrate”. Here is
the definition: of or pertaining to creatures without a backbone.
No comments:
Post a Comment