Blue Planet 2: Octopus discovered making armour out of shells for the first time

'She's a rockstar, man'

(BBC)

Monitoring and studying wildlife as closely as the Blue Planet II crew do in order to make the show, they're occasionally privy to never before observed creatures and behaviours.

We saw that in episode 2, 'The Deep', when the deepest living fish was glimpsed, and now, in episode 5, 'Green Seas', the regular old common octopus was spotted doing something new that felt straight out of a Pixar movie.

Pursued by a pyjama shark, one was seen first plugging its attacker's gills with its tentacles - forcing it to let go of its hold in order to breathe - before creating a stunning disguise.

Out in the open and with no cover around, the octopus quickly gathered nearby shells and formed them into a dome, making itself look like a rock and fooling the shark.

The octopus appeared to narrow its eyes in determination (BBC)

"It was incredible to see how that octopus outwitted that shark," a cameraman noted, "she's a rockstar, man."

Sir David Attenborough noted: "Thanks to Craig's and Roger's dedication [the cameramen], the octopus' astonishing behaviours are now known to science."

Elsewhere in the episode, a Mantis Shrimp left its partner of 20 years to mate with a new female.

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