The Soul of an Octopus

"By entering it, you are bathed in a grace and power you don't experience in air.  To dive beneath the surface feels like entering the Earth's vast, dreaming subconscious.  Submitting to it's depth, it's currents, its pressure, is both humbling and freezing."

Sy is absolutely one of the most creative writers I have read.  She has the ability to take an entire book about the world of an octopus and captivate my heart.   She discovers the emotional and physical world of an octopus.  They are complex and determined creatures.  Some are so complex and brilliant that researchers have to create complex activities for these creatures in captivity to keep them from escaping their aquariums.   An octopus has 50 to 75 lobes in their brain where a human has 4 lobes.   One octopus in her book had three individuals giving her attention but she was able to steal the entire bucket of fish without them knowing until it was too late.   Did you know that an octopus can camouflage itself at least 177 times in an hour.

  

Sy truly immerses herself into her writing and not only does she write about these creatures but helped me to understand them.  To see how they love and feel emotions by their responses.   An octopus is so different from a human but yet seems to have the emotional abilities and connections that a dog or human can have.  Even though an octopus has blue blood because it uses cooper not iron to carry it's oxygen, it still seems to connect with people.  While an octopus is a curious creature, I am curious to learn even more about this fantastic creature.  I am certified to dive and I am going to have to do some night diving to see if I can explore the octopus in his world.     If you love the ocean and the creatures that live in it, this is a definite read!!

I read this book during the #borrowathon.  Here is a link to the BookTube video of my #borrowathon wrap up and it includes a video at the end from my son and I diving in Cozumel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1WfwCYF5QM

Here are a few pictures from our dive.

Highlight of all of dives was getting so close

to a nurse shark that was sleeping. 

A large eel that is not under a rock.