Playful Octopus Snatches Diver’s Camera And Then Ends Up Taking an Underwater 'Selfie'
At times, there are some moments between humans and marine animals that take everyone by surprise. Whether it’s a dolphin playing with a swimmer, a sea turtle staring at a random diver, or an octopus curiously trying to explore their new human friend, such moments are always memorable. They also offer rare glimpses into the intelligence, playfulness, and personality of underwater creatures. In one such remarkable underwater encounter, divers witnessed an unexpected moment when an octopus decided to grab their camera and seemingly took a selfie. This reminds us of the surprising ways in which wildlife can interact with humans.
The special moment took place when an experienced diver, Chris Mullen, who has been exploring the underwater world since 2015, went for a casual dive near Vancouver Island along with his friend John Roney (@roneydives). During this dive, they unexpectedly met a Giant Pacific octopus, which is seen in the video below. While they were passing by, the curious marine creature came out from behind a rock and stretched out its arms and snatched Roney’s camera. It then became a videographer and began recording itself. The video clip of the moment was shared by Mullen and Roney on their Instagram accounts.
Roney captioned the post, "My octopus cinematographer. Yesterday, a Giant Pacific octopus took one of our cameras for a spin! These intelligent creatures often investigate new objects in their environment, and on this dive, our gear was just too interesting to resist. The octopus even managed to film a rare perspective from inside his web." Later on, the majestic creature also hugged the diver. Speaking of this moment, Roney wrote, "Hug from a Giant Pacific octopus! An incredible moment from our dive this week with an interactive octopus." He added, "This hug was filmed shortly after I reclaimed my camera from the octopus."
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Mullen also shared how special the moment was when the octopus seemingly hugged him. As reported by Good News Network, he said, “I like to give them space, but as I tried to swim away, it dropped the camera and started moving towards where I was going to—effectively following me. It briefly stopped to interact with another octopus, and then saw me up higher filming it, and it made a beeline right for me and jumped on me next. It was wild. It was crazy what was going on.” John went on to explain that encounters like this are remarkable because the animals decide to engage on their own.
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Their decision to interact with the divers voluntarily shows their level of awareness and reveals just how intelligent these sea creatures are. Meanwhile, octopuses have long fascinated humans with their unique abilities. From changing their body color to blending completely into their surroundings, they sometimes seem otherworldly. This is the reason why sudden encounters with octopuses often leave people wondering.
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