Octoposse?

[Alkiman]

Was doin some therapy the other night with deepdog when I heard him say"If I see another giant octopus I'll throw up". Had to remind him that it was almost 100 dives before I saw my first G.P.O. but got me to thinkin. What is up with all the octos, especially in cove two. There were a few times this summer when I could find four on a regular basis, and it seems like everytime I go out there's at least one sometimes three. Is it my new crab gut cologne(Estee Lauder)? Was I an Octopus in a former life? Does this mean that the cove is getting healthier, less healthy than it used to be? And what the heck is the plural for octopus? Octopuses, Octopods,..... Octoposse?

 

[Mike Matthews]

Octopi is plural

Was doin some therapy the other night with deepdog when I heard him say"If I see another giant octopus I'll throw up". Had to remind him that it was almost 100 dives before I saw my first G.P.O. but got me to thinkin. What is up with all the octos, especially in cove two. There were a few times this summer when I could find four on a regular basis, and it seems like everytime I go out there's at least one sometimes three. Is it my new crab gut cologne(Estee Lauder)? Was I an Octopus in a former life? Does this mean that the cove is getting healthier, less healthy than it used to be? And what the heck is the plural for octopus? Octopuses, Octopods,..... Octoposse?

 

[Camerone]

Actually, any of the common plural forms is correct. While it's generally supposed that the word has its origins in Latin, it's actually just a Latin-ized form of a Greek word, meaning the true plural would be octopodes. Octopi is about as far from grammatically correct as you can get, but, like many other words in the English language, common usage triumphs grammatical correctness, and most dictionaries now show it as an acceptable plural form, with "octopuses" also being permitted. I personally prefer the less common, but somewhat more correct "octopus", leaving it as the same form of the singluar when I write...

As to why there are so many lately, I honestly don't know. I don't remember this many in November of last year, and I was diving Alki a lot that time. I found two itty-bitty little ones on my way back from the I-beams at cove two last Saturday. They were out and free-swimming in the middle of the morning, both about the size of a baseball or so. I love the little guys (or girls...how does one tell?) I was on my way up to a deco stop, so I couldn't stop and play, but hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow morning to see a few more out and about in the south Sound...

 

[Alkiman]

Wow! A diver and a linguist! Thanks for the clarification. As for the increase in numbers it seems to be a year round thing, as in there's just more octopi period. Any thoughts about why, indicators etc?

 

[puckvirus]

You know about a month ago my dive buddie and I were averaging about 7 GPOs in cove 2, depending on where we would start our dive. Now its been about 3 to 4.

 

[Diver Mike]

It seems that 2 -3 is the norm at Cove 2 right now.

Seems that eveyt dive at Sunrise is good for one or two.

Does this mean there are more or are we all just looking harder and diving more?

Camerone,

I see you have a dolphin for an Avatar, are you a rebreather diver?

There are a few of us always looking for more RB divers to dive with.

Diver Mike...

 

[Camerone]

Yup, I dive a Dolphin at the moment. I have for the last year or so (I basically found a unit at a price I couldn't say "no" to and went right from OW into the Dolphin...) I'm just cooling my jets (pun intended) until the new Inspiration electronics are released.

PM me if you want to dive sometime; I always like diving with other rebreather buddies. Just be warned that I'm about to dump everything I own at the shop tomorrow for its annual service, just as soon as it dries out a little from this weekend It's going to be an expensive one, too - I need a new zipper in my drysuit

So as not to hijack the thread - I did find three very healthy, large octos down at Z's Reef on Saturday morning, but nothing at Cove 2 this morning. Of course, at Cove 2 today, it was hard to see your hand in front of your face with the visibility we had...