Red Octopus Disappears Down a Wormhole

Occurred on April 22, 2017 / Monterey, California, USA

Info from Licensor: "Octopus behavior never disappoints! This was an awesome encounter I had with an East Pacific Red Octopus on Earth Day at San Carlos Beach (Breakwater) in Monterey, California. I typically shoot photos underwater and haven’t done much video. That night I was having some trouble getting my flashes to fire so I decided to crank up my focus light and shoot video instead. After shooting some video of nudibrachs and crabs, I decided to go look for octopuses out in the sand off the Breakwater Wall. I was surprised to come across an octopus disappearing into the sand. I found another octopus nearby, started the video rolling, and observed this fascinating behavior that I hadn’t seen before. When illuminated by my light, the octopuses would find and disappear into a nearby innkeeper wormhole. I observed several octopuses exhibiting this behavior that night. Perhaps the octopuses are learning that Whiskers (the infamous Harbor Seal) uses divers lights to hunt for dinner and devising new escape strategies. I am happy to report that no octopuses were eaten by Whiskers in the making of this film. My dive buddies did a great job keeping Whiskers entertained and well feed along the wall while I was out in the sand filming."