Octopus, a threat to divers? Check out the video...

[GDI]

I remember once diving off of Victoria with some friends named Kevin and Pat. Well it appears that what was about to happen set off a unusall week for Pat. We found a Octopus den and were able to coax the animal out, all six ft of it. After several minutes of having this animal check us out It decided to head back into it's den. Pat was the closest to it at the time, In fact he and it were doing the tango. The octopus coiled up its legs and with a great force turned spinning Pat about and headed off into its den. When it turned it also had cold cocked Pat so hard that it jarred his mask and knocked the reg completely out of his mouth. Kevin and I swear we could hear his jaw pop from the punch. We laughed so hard I think we each lost about 500 psi. Pat recovered his mask and we ended the dive. It took awhile before the swelling went down on PAts face but no broken jaw bones. Later in the week Pat was bitten by a sealion. Ahh it was a fun week. But those Octopi I tell you, they are stronger then what one may think and they are master preditors

 

[deepdiverbc]

An ocotopus would only be dangerous if it considered a diver a threat. This is why it is not a good idea to harrass the marine life.

For an octopus to consider a diver a food source it would have to be pretty huge and pretty hungry. Extremely unlike to happen.

 

[mpenner]

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, and dive the surrounding area. I have heard that recently even some local octopus researchers have become reluctant to handle GPOs because they seem more aggressive. I can't speak from experience, but having recently seen a 20-30 footer (seriously HUGE), and then seeing this video, has given me a little food for thought.
Apparently GPOs, when they find a new food source, become very efficient at exploiting it and basically exhaust one food source before moving on to something else. Now I'm also curious as to whether (and how) new behaviours (like killing sharks) are transmitted from one octopus to another, given that they are so short-lived and solitary.
Any comments or observations on octopus behaviour?

For the curious, the monster GPO lives (lived?) under the bow of the 'GB Church', a wreck off the coast of Sydney (Vancouver Island).