The Evil From the Deep
It lurks beneath the waves. In the deep.
In the dark.
It writhes in haunted, timeless sleep among the graves of ancient ships. Shining empires crumble and fall and rise again from the ones before, sending their fleets across the sea, extending their reach beyond their shores.
Until they reach too far.
Eyes like pits of glowering evil regard the world of sun and air, once forgotten, but now remembered, and cavernous hunger drives it forth. Ascending on a cloud of darkness, its rage whips the sea into froth and batters another helpless ship.
Snapping timber and shredding sail, dragging men into the depths, rending flesh in savage maw, and…
…stealing video cameras?
In light of this startling video evidence, what do you think?
Mike Schulenberg 
Great post, Mike and loved the video! Saw a few of them while diving in the 90’s, but they seemed quite shy and kept their distance. I find them fascinating.
Thanks, Elaine! They are a fascinating animal, and highly intelligent too, from what I understand. That must have been a neat experience to see them while diving, even if they are shy.
It was neat but I wouldn’t want to meet one THIS up close & personal unless it was a wee baby one. The same goes for sharks!
Yeah, I know some people see sharks when they dive, and everything goes okay. I like sharks, but I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable in the water with one.
Nope. They live to eat. It would be like swimming with a large garbage disposal with eyes. NOT the way I want to go out.
There’s probably one shark that’s the carnivorous fish equivalent to Casper the Friendly Ghost. “Gosh! I don’t want to eat people. I just want to be friendly.”
He probably gets teased mercilessly by the other sharks. So much so, in fact, that he is now a shark-hating shark. Maybe even a shark serial killer.
Mostly likely. I bet we have another Tim Burton/Johnny Depp hit on our hands.
Maybe it should be all one movie… hmmm… it could be the biggest movie ever made.
The octopus was clearly just trying to make a movie. Can’t blame him, though it would have been more polite had he asked to borrow the camera instead of stealing it. Very stealthy though. Who would’ve thought? [the song in this video is AWESOME, btw!]
It definitely would’ve been more polite to ask. It’s like he’s the Ninja of the Deep.
And yeah, I had no idea there was like an octopus love song or something. A perfect choice for the video.
“Ninja of the Deep” sounds like an excellent title for a book.
And as we know from a previous discussion, if that ninja were to attack, the book would be instantly improved 🙂
Definitely. This has the makings of a bestseller.
And there should be a movie version starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, which is my answer to every movie idea =)
I say we write this screenplay. For Science!
For Science!
I really like proclaiming “For Science!”
It might be my favorite saying. Just sayin’.
Me too. It’s like a glorious battle cry.
I think it needs to be the rallying cry of the ninja octopus in the movie. “For Science!”
It totally makes sense because with 8 arms, they have enough to be both ninjas and scientists at the same time.
TOTALLY GENIUS!!! And they would still have extra arms – to do other stuff. Like knit sweaters.
Yeah! And they could also knit a Socktopus.
I bet I could make a fortune off a trained octopus. I can sell it’s knitted wares on Etsy. I’ll be a millionaire.
Oh! And think of the killer knife-throwing act it could perform at the circus.
WHILE knitting a soctopus… $$$$ CHA CHING $$$$
Would he be knitting a socktopus with knives? That would be totally meta.
the possibilities are limitless, really…
No kidding, because that Socktopus could be knitting a Socktopus, who is knitting a Socktopus, down into infinity.
Whoa.
I think the fabric of my reality is unraveling.
I write speculative fiction. Unraveling the fabric of reality is my specialty 😉
Always been fascinated by he octopus. Love the video!!
Your lead up post was great too!
Hi, Kim!
Yeah, I’ve always thought the octopus is really cool and that they got a bad rap in the ancient days.
And thanks for the compliment on the lead-up post. I worked particularly hard on it and it’s nice to hear that someone enjoyed it 🙂
Woohoo! Awesome 😀
Next time, carry two video cameras and then you can video the octopus swimming away. They are intelligent – maybe it just wanted to play?
Oh, I didn’t actually film the video. I just found it, thought it was worth sharing, and featured it in a post 🙂
But yeah, octopuses are apparently extremely intelligent.
Awww! And there was I thinking you went underwater diving 🙂
🙂
they are? (I feel some procrastination coming on in the form of researching octopi intelligence…)
Yeah, they even use tools. True, the tools are things like coconuts instead of table saws and such, but still tools.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Intelligence
And they can get out of tanks, take side trips to nearby tanks, and get back to their own tanks without anyone being the wiser? WTH?
Cool, huh?
Either that, or there’s an intelligent fish in the tank that’s framing the poor octopus.
But yeah, there’s video on YouTube of an octopus crawling along on the ground, not in the water or anything.
that’s INSANE!
I hadn’t seen this particular video before. He’s all like, “Here, you guys, have a crab! Okay, see you later.”
CRAZY!!! I kinda want one as a pet. we could go on walks. I’ll train it to attack. It’ll be awesome.
That would be awesome. And it could fetch like six sticks at once.
Great writing Mike! I always think of James Bond when I think of Octopuses. Why is that? Cool Video. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks, Karen! Well, there was that one movie with the octopus name, so maybe that was it?
Great video!
As a biologist who watched my share of Jacques Costeau when I was growing up, I can tell you this one ranks right up there with the great ones. Even better actually, since it made me LOL.
I can see a theme developing here: hungry creatures with ‘more limbs than proper.’ 😉
Cool, I didn’t you you were a biologist. There was a brief time when I was young that I wanted to be a marine biologist, but a college-level biology class or two made me realize I wasn’t motivated enough for the work it would’ve required. It still seems like a neat career, though.
I don’t even do much biology anymore, though I do get to use a microscope every day.
I had the marine biologist bug too. After I found out that, in the entire United States, only one of them per year gets a job, I decided to broaden my focus.
And that it would be fun to write books on the side. 😉
Yeah, it’s a shame there isn’t more of a job market for it. The marine biologists in documentaries look like they have awesome jobs 🙂
Octopi have been suffering prejudice ever since Jules Verne wrote 2,000 Leagues Under the Sea! Maybe the video was the bazillionth rude human to take his picture without asking, and he’d had enough! I love this post, Mike. Thanks!
I’m glad you liked it. I’m certainly glad whoever took the video posted it on YouTube. It think it’s pretty amazing 🙂
This octopus certainly had an agenda! Amazing video. Thanks for sharing. Good writing, too.
My pleasure. I thought it was a great video. And thanks for the compliment on the writing 🙂
Fascinating! Octopus needs a bit more practice with his filming techniques. Until recently I’d always thought octopus were creepy (too many horror movies), but now find them rather interesting – and very intelligent. Maybe this was his version of annoy the tourists.
Yes, someone needs to inform Octopus that you’re not supposed to cover the camera lens. I know they’re usually supposed to be a rather shy animal. I bet his friends put him up to it.
Thanks for stopping by!
What a beautiful creature. When I think of octopi, I usually imagine the cartoon pictures of them, which really don’t do them justice.
I think this octopus could be the star of an underwater James Bond movie, maybe a new take on the film, Octopussy. Has spear gun, will destroy the enemy, save the world, and get entangled with a few fascinating female sea creatures along the way.
Love your lead up to the video. Great writing, Mike.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. And thanks very much. I spent quite a lot of time polishing the lead up, so I appreciate the compliment.
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Thanks for featuring my post on your blog, Laird 🙂
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