Midmorning With Aundrea - September 2, 2020 (Part 2)

(Part 2 of 2) They have eight arms to hold you and multiple brains and hearts.

We're getting intimate with the octopus!

It's so well-armed .

.

.

...and so frequently misunderstood.

Chip reid takes us to meet a creature honored with its very own song... 1narr: it's one of the most bizarre creatures on earth.

2narr: and not just because it looks so&different.

3narr: the octopus can camouflage itself in a flash; squeeze its entire body through a one inch hole, and their brains?

That's right&brains with an "s."

Octopus has one large central brain and 8 mini brains - one in each arm.

Sot: sy montgomery: 09:28:08 octopuses are so brilliant.

4narr: author sy montgomery believes their intelligence is almost off the charts.

Sot: sy montgomery: we give 'em the same toys to play with that we give our children.

They love to play.

Play is one of those characteristics of higher minds.

5narr: as if on cue... chip reid: 09:31:43 there she is.

Sot: sy montgomery: 09:31:44 oh, beautiful-- 6narr: ruddy, a giant pacific octopus was one of the stars of the new england aquarium in boston before she recently passed away from old age - we were lucky enough to get to play with her when we visited last year.

Chip reid: 09:31:58 some people go, "ew, that's creepy.

You go?

Sy montgomery: 09:32:01 i say, this is one of the most beautiful creatures on this planet, one of the smartest, one of the most interesting, and one of the most alien.

Chip reid: 09:32:10 // in fact, they're portrayed in movies as aliens.

Sy montgomery: 09:32:15 that's right -- and as monsters.

7narr: yes, hollywood "octopuses" ha torn down the golden gate bridge& 8narr: &destroyed ships& 9narr: &and feasted on movie stars& "hello beastie 11narr: montgomery says it's unfair to demonize them.

Sy montgomery: 09:33:10 you would really have to go to outer space to come up with someone more different from us than this.

// 09;33;00 their mouths are in their armpits // they have three hearts.

They have blue blood.

Sy montgomery: 09:43:09 and the grace.

I mean, who has grace like this?

12narr: montgomery spent countless hours here studying these other- worldly beings while writing her book "the soul o an octopus."

Chip reid: 09:24:26 // do you believe the octopus has a soul?

Sy montgomery: 09:24:31 i believe if i've got a soul, this octopus has a soul.

13narr: and that she claims is not the only thing they have in common with us.

Sy montgomery: 09:34:39 // when i met an octopus for the first time, i was so struck by the fact that she was just as curious about me as i was about her.

Octopus trainer: 10:24:56 she knows me.

Chip reid: 10:24:58 wow!

Look at that!

May i?

Octopus trainer: 10:25:01 yeah.

Absolutely.

Chip reid: 10:25:03 hello there.

14narr: we went behind went behind the scenes to see for ourselves with the help of senior aquarium biologist, bill murphy.

It turns out that calling an octopus curious is an understatement.

Octopus trainer: 10:29:41 ahhh, she's more interested in you than the food.

Chip reid: 10:29:43 that's -- that's scary.

15narr: it felt like she wanted me to join her in her octopus's garden.

Chip reid: 10:26:07 --she is powerful.

Octopus trainer: 10:26:09 yeah, you feel the pull in the muscle-- 16narr: a big part of murphy's job is keeping ruddy from getting bored.

Octopus trainer: 10:28:45 because they're so smart, we-- try and keep 'em mentally stimulated.

And interactions like this help with that, 'cause they're figurin' us out and who we are and what we're doin'.

17narr: there are about 300 species of octopus but the giant pacific octopus is the largest of its kind with an average length of 16 feet and weight of 110 pounds.

It's also the longest-lived octopus -- even so its life span is only 3 to 5 years.

Octopus trainer: 10:22:27 // they have such personalities different.

So when you work this closely with them and you're interacting with 'em on regular basis, ya-- ya build a relationship with them // chip reid: 10:22:38 that's gotta' be difficult that they live such short lives.

Octopus trainer: 10:22:42 it is.

It is.

It's very difficult.

But you enjoy the time you have.

18narr: to learn more we headed down to cape cod where we met bret grasse of the marine biological laboratory in woods hole massachusetts.

Chip reid: 09:25:39 this is beautiful.

Bret: 09:25:41 yeah.

Pretty-- pretty good day in the office, huh?

19narr: he's responsible for the care and feeding of the lab's octopuses and comes here to stock up on their favorite food -- tiny grass shrimp.

Chip reid: 09:42:33 so kinda poke and-- move along?

Bret: 09:42:35 yeah, exactly.

// bret: 09:42:45 got a few in there?

Chip reid: 09:42:46 we got some jumpin' around in there.

20narr: next stop -- the beach -- for another octopus delicacy -- crabs bret: 09:29:02 three, two, one.

Chip reid: 09:29:03 whoa!

Look at 'em all!

There you go.

// bret: 09:29:07 just grab and scoop.

21narr: back at the lab the day was about to get a lot better for a small california two- spot octopus, and a lot worse for one of those crabs.

Bret: 11:52:08 this is gonna' be quick.

Chip reid: 11:52:10 bon appetit.

Bret: 11:52:10 so don't blink.

And there's the lunge 22narr: of all the octopus oddities, perhaps the most extraordinary is its talent for disguise.

Watch that again in reverse slow motion -- the octopus changes its shape, colors, patterns, even the texture of its skin to look like seaweed and does it in the blink of an eye.

23narr: it's called dynamic camouflage.

I would argue that dynamic camouflage is a form of intelligence.

24narr: that video was shot by roger hanlon, sr. scientist and a top octopus researcher at the marine biological laboratory, who recently gave a ted talk on octopus intelligence that went viral.

25narr: we met him at the lab in woods hole where he helped us understand what that means.

Chip reid: 12:20:11 // it doesn't just happen instinctively.

They actually think and decide how to camouflage themselves.

Roger hanlon: 12:20:19 that's right.

This is not a reflex.

This is a decision making process.

They're taking into account the surrounds for camouflage, but also an approaching threat.

And they're calculating all along about what they're going to do next.

26narr: for example, the moving rock trick, and the moving algae trick.

27narr: the hide n seek trick 28narr: and the suit of armor made of shells.

29narr: as a scientist hanlon is skeptical about attributing human- like emotions to the octopus or comparing their level of intelligence to ours.

But he says they are stunningly creative.

Roger hanlon: 12:20:53 // this is a complex animal.

It's making decisions all the time.

That takes a big brain.

30narr: a big brain in a unique and mysterious creature that scientists are only beginning to understand.