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The Soulofan Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery explores the extraordinary nature and consciousness of giant Pacific octopuses at the New England Aquarium. Through her interactions, Montgomery reveals their intelligence, personalities, and unique behaviors, challenging the perception of sentience beyond mammals and birds. The book emphasizes the deep connection humans can form with these remarkable creatures, ultimately advocating for their appreciation and protection.

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67 views2 pages

The Soulofan Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery explores the extraordinary nature and consciousness of giant Pacific octopuses at the New England Aquarium. Through her interactions, Montgomery reveals their intelligence, personalities, and unique behaviors, challenging the perception of sentience beyond mammals and birds. The book emphasizes the deep connection humans can form with these remarkable creatures, ultimately advocating for their appreciation and protection.

Uploaded by

Egghead
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Soul of an Octopus

evergreenaudubon.org/the-soul-of-an-octopus

JoAnn Hackos July 26, 2018

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness


Sy Montgomery
Atria Paperback, New York, 2015

Giant Pacific Octopuses live at the New England Aquarium in Boston, and author, Sy
Montgomery, befriends them and learns about their extraordinary nature. Note that the
plural of “octopus” is “octopuses,” not “octopi,” as we are told on the first page. The name is
Greek, not Latin. We also learn that an octopus has “venom like a snake, a beak like a parrot,
and ink like an old-fashioned pen.” But, more amazingly, an octopus is incredibly smart and
aware of what is around it, including people.

The Soul of an Octopus is a fascinating account of


Montgomery’s interactions with four giant octopuses at the
aquarium. They are invertebrates, entirely unlike our human
lineage. They have no bones. They breath water. They change
color instantaneously. Their eight appendages have grasping
suckers and are covered with neurons, separate from their
central brains. They are as “alien” as a creature might be, but
they recognize individual people, enjoy games, have tempers
and moods, respond to touch, and are interested in everything.

If you still need to be convinced that many


creatures, not just mammals and birds, are
sentient, you must read this book. You will also
be convinced that octopuses are amazing,
sentient creatures with vivid personalities. In
fact, it might keep you from ever eating
octopus again. Montgomery is so enamored
that she devotes years to learning about the
octopuses in the aquarium and those living free
in the ocean.

You may have heard that octopuses are escape


artists. They don’t much like living in tanks in
an aquarium and easily become bored. Since
they have no bones, octopuses like the Giant

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Pacific are able to extend their bodies into the smallest crevices. One escaped from a private
aquarium, pushing the lid off its tank, it slid to the floor, crossed the veranda, and headed
home to the sea.

Octopuses need to be kept amused in order to thrive in capitivy (and deter escape!) so
aquarium staff need to create games for them to play. Sammy, an octopus in Seattle, liked to
play with a baseball-size plastic ball that could be screwed together. Sammy could unscrew
the ball to get at food placed inside, and then screw the two halves back together when done
eating.

Octopuses in aquaria are great to study and enjoy, but Montgomery finally develops the
nerve to look for them in the wild. She has great difficulty learning to scuba dive but
eventually succeeds with a dive in Cozumel. She sees an octopus watching her, flashing red,
turning white, then immediately becoming turquoise. She says, “I feel elation cresting into
ecstasy and experience bizarre sensations.”

Nearly all of the individual octopuses that Montgomery learns to love and admire at the New
England Aquarium eventually die. We learn that these giant octopuses actually don’t live very
long, only a few years. The females die after they have laid and tended their eggs, hundreds of
thousands of them. One of the females in the aquarium lays and carefully tends eggs that
have unfortunately never been fertilized. Both she and the eggs eventually die.

One scene, at the Seattle Aquarium, is unforgettable–the elaborate mating dance of a male
and female octopus with the goal of fertilizing her eggs. Typically, an octopus is a loner, more
likely to kill another octopus than befriend one. But when Rain and Squirt are finally united,
they are mesmerizing. They turn a pure white, a sign of contentment.

I strongly recommend reading The Soul of an Octopus, if only to gain insight into an animal
that is so entirely different from us, and yet so amazing. You will learn that consciousness
and intelligence exist in such creatures. They recognize and remember people, so different
from them. They can even become our friends.

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