By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews
NEWPORT – Does anyone have an octopus?
The visitors center at the Hatfield Marine Science Center needs a new one and is asking the public – especially the hundreds of boats out scouring coastal waters for Dungeness crab – to help.
“This is the way we have typically received octopus donations in the past,” said Renee Gillaspie, the center’s volunteer coordinator and visitors center’s assistant manager. “We realize it’s an extremely busy time for the crab fleet, but if anyone pulls up a crab pot with an octopus in it, we’d love to hear from them.”
The first thing the more than 150,000 annual visitors to the center see is its resident giant Pacific octopus. With around 280 independently-moving suckers on each of their eight arms, the animals never fail to keep human eyes glued to their brightly colored exhibit tank.
A seemingly fast turnover in the ranks is due to the species’ relatively short three-to-five-year life span. The center’s goal is to return the octopus to the ocean in time to mate before dying.
The current octopus, a male known as #22-01, has been on exhibit since September. The center even has an “octocam” feeding its webpage so people can see it remotely.
“He was brought up by a fisherman via line and hook,” aquarist Jaimie Hart said in a email statement to YachatsNews. “Meaning he was caught with a fishing pole!”
Hart said her best guess is that the octopus was hanging onto a fish at the end of the line and was simply unwilling to give it up.
Hart said the octopus’ intelligence – the species was featured in a recent documentary titled “My Octopus Teacher” – never fails to amaze the center’s staff.
For instance, they can identify different aquarists by sight and taste.
“And sometime they choose their favorite people (perhaps the aquarists who always feed them their favorite food?),” Hart said. “They are truly an amazing animal to work with and we take great pride in making sure they are healthy and stimulated at all times.”
Giant Pacific octopuses are invertebrates, meaning they have no bones. The only hard part of their body is their mouth, which is shaped similarly to the small parrot’s beak.
Oh yes, and they have three hearts and can change their coloring in a split second with specialized cells call chromatophores.
Now, turning to the commercial Dungeness crab fleet in asking for help finding a new one seems to make perfect sense, since crab-pot landings of octopuses are by no means unheard of.
In 2019, for instance, the Oregon Coast Aquarium rehabilitated and released a giant Pacific octopus that was caught in a crab trap. The 22-pound female was underweight with open wounds on her arms. After extensive medical treatment, the octopus was returned to her preferred rocky habitat and released.
More recently, a video last July showed a giant Pacific octopus being hauled up in Yaquina Bay with one of its arms caught in a commercial crab pot. The boat’s crew gently pulled the arm out of the pot and the octopus gently floated back toward the bottom.
Tim Novotny, communications manager for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, said he hasn’t seen recent figures on just how many octopuses are hauled up in traps, but added, “I know it happens.”
Noting that Dungeness crab are a preferred dietary item for octopuses, he quipped, “We’d definitely prefer to see them at the Hatfield Marine Science Center than in one of our crab pots.”
No calls have come in yet since the center posted an item on its Facebook page seeking a replacement for #22-01. Still, with all those boats now out on the water, Gillaspie hopes it’s only a matter of time.
“We know how busy they are, and that pulling up an octopus that may be feasting on everything in their pots could be problematic,” she said. “But if someone does pull one up, we hope they’ll keep us in mind.”
The center urges anyone with a lead on a good candidate – preferably a smaller one in the 10- to 12-pound range to fit the center’s somewhat cramped octopus exhibit space – to call 541-619-6360.
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com