Octopus Playtime | Octopus In My House | BBC Earth 

Years ago I worked at a dive centre in Cyprus where there was a young octopus in a tank/aquarium with a tube in one corner aerating the water with a constant stream of bubbles. The octopus would position itself over the tube, holding on with tentacles and then suddenly let go and ride the bubble stream up and across the tank. Then back for another go, and so on. Definitely playing and almost certainly a bit bored in captivity.

I loved the scene later on where the guy sets up a bell the octopus can ring to get the humans to show up and feed it. He inadvertently turned himself into the octopus' butler.

The fact that an octopus can play, recognize faces and seek attention from humans is absolutely fascinating.

For those who don’t know, the Seattle Octopus that got pretty famous for its level of ingenuity/smartness was because at night it would escape its tank by moving a loose decoration that gave it just enough height to get a leg over the top of the tank, then make its way the 50+ feet across the hall to the touch tanks, have a meal, and then somehow get back across and room and back into its tank.

When I lived in Cyprus, I'd run at the beach every morning. Once day, I was catching my breath bent over by the water looking at the rocks under water and saw a small octopodi just sitting there by her nest of rocks. I stuck my hand down into the water and thought she'd skedaddle for cover, but instead, she reached out and stuck out a few of her tentacles and wrapped them around my fingers. We played like that for a few minutes and then she got bored and moved back into her rock house. The next day, I went back, and there she was, and we did the same thing. I did this every day with her for the next month. Such a beautiful creature and so smart and responsive. I called her Juli, and I don't know what she called me. I never ate octopus ever again. In fact, because of her, I never ate any animals again. That was almost 25 years ago.

The more I learn about the playfulness of an octopus, the sense of humor crows display, how cleaner shrimp set up cosmetic stations for their clients, or how an aquarium cleaner once made friends with a moray eel, the more sense children's books make to me when they attribute human quality to our fellow earthly citizens.

The film 'My Octopus Teacher' was glorious and was all filmed in the ocean rather than a tank. They are phenomenal and if we recognise their intelligence, a tank is kind of sad.

I was scuba diving in Bonaire a few years ago and I had just started my dive, it was a shore dive. I got to about 12' and came across what I will call a "baby" octopus, I would say he was 8-10" in diameter. I ended up spending my entire dive playing with him. He would go and hide between some rocks, I would wiggle my hand and he would come out and play with my hand. I had neoprene gloves on, this went on for about 60 minutes. I never left the area and it was they coolest experience I have EVER had diving. Just me and that little octopus.

I love how the scene looks like it's walking in the house, not actually inside of an aquarium 😍😍😍

Octopuses are such incredible animals. Their intelligence is truly something.

To say that these beautiful creatures are not sentient is crazy, they are more connected to their world than we could ever be. Your video's are intriguing and such a valuable learning tool. Thank you.

You can see the intelligence in their eyes. I had one in Hawaii following us around a dock. It watched our every action.

My friends and I used to do a ton of Scuba diving and the few times we ran into an octopus we always talked about how intelligent they seemed when we got out of the water. You can just sense how smart they are and they always seem to be looking you over as much as you are checking them out. Also had an employee at a local aquarium tell us that they had fish disappearing over a few days from a large tank and when they went back and reviewed footage from security cameras they found an octopus in an adjacent tank was opening a hatch on top of its tank and crawling over into the fish tank, eating one or two and then going back to it's own tank and even closing the top behind it. Crazy story but I believe it.

This dude needs a YT channel so we can see more of the beautiful octopus

We had a beta fish that loved playing in the bubbles of his aquarium. He'd purposely swim into the bubbles then let them push him out. He'd do this several times throughout the day. He also loved when we put floating objects on top of the water. He especially liked the rubber ducks and the moss ball. It was fun to see him interact with different objects.

I worked at a wildlife rehabilitation center and we had many animals on display for education. Some of the animals one would think were the least intelligent or responsive were quite the opposite. One of the biggest hams was a Red Eared Slider. This dude would put on a show when guests would come in for a tour. He’d play “basketball” where he’d push a rock to the surface and let it drop (over and over until he was sure he had your attention). He’d climb up his ramp and do this teetering routine on a high ledge until he’d finally crash into the water with a big splash. Such a little drama queen.

My late Grandfather, Martin R. Brittan, was a Professor of Biological Sciences at California State University and specialized in Ichthyology. He refused to eat any Cephalopoda after researching them, he believed they were highly intelligent and sentient creatures. One female in particular would get out of the tank repeatedly no matter what efforts he took to secure it, and she would play hide and seek with him. She also, like our octopus girl in the video, loved to pull herself up from the tank to wrap herself around his shoulders in a hug.

Three hearts. No wonder she’s so affectionate. She has more love to give.

Recently read "the Soul of an Octopus" by Sy Montgomery. What an eye-opener! Had no idea what intelligent and interactive creatures they are !!!

I've always said they are alien. Such intelligence and memories. Their ability to figure things out is amazing.

Everyone gangster until Cthulhu gets out of the tank and goes on a rampage.

I think one of my favorite stories about octopus intelegence is the one where an art student went to a aquarium to do some sketches of the fish. When they came around to the octopus, they noticed the octopus would hold still for a bit, move, then hold still again in a different position. Almost as if the octopus knew they were drawing it.

It really is a terrible shame how short their lives are.😢😢

There's more intelligence and empathy hidden in the wild than we could scale...we need to give our love and respect to all living creatures....this beautiful video showcases this very well❤🌷

Here I am, almost in my 30s, kids and wife are sleeping and me watching an octopus swimming in an aquarium while all my friends are out drinking beer on a bar. How splendid.

That rhythmic twirling of its legs was absolutely magical and hypnotic…WHAT WAS IT DOING?

They are such amazingly fascinating creatures.

The fact that a human can play, recognize faces and seek attention from octopuses is absolutely fascinating.

Mans bored out of his mind. Bouncing pill bottles like hes in jail haha

It's cool the way it looks like the octopus is in it's own home, free-roaming about the living room. Octopus used to really creep me out until I learned how intelligent they are and now I find them quite adorable and humorous. I don't see how people can eat them! So sad!

Don’t invite The Deep

*Some octopus are able to blend, camouflage, and mimic their environment. THAT ALONE is fascinating & proof that they are highly intelligent creatures. I love it*

A family friend of mine was given a octopus to eat as a gift. She drove to the beach and set it free. They are so clever and deserve our respect

As an underwater welder (retired) I have come across these amazing creatures and found this video far too short. It is engaging, compelling even and I was eager to learn more about the interaction between humans and octopuses. ("Octopi'' was how I learned it but the OED says different.)

Prob he has the most exotic pet out of all of his friends and family

That was beautiful to watch. Such wonderful friendly intelligent creatures.

I’m so sad they don’t live so long. Such a friendship in this world is needed

Beautiful, sensitive and highly intelligent. No one should be eating or harming these incredible beings.

Octos are really neat critters. I had to laugh when she was playing with the girl's arm and spraying water at her. Just how they look is bizarre enough, we oughtn't be surprised their minds and personalities are just as mysterious and unusual. I generally find that animals deserve more credit than what many people given them in some degree or another, although their environment and physical limitations can surely play a role at the level of cognition that we can perceive in them. Animals may not have the level of thought we have, but I find that certain aspects of intelligence are apt to be found across the board. For those of lesser mental capacity, perhaps there is some key with some of them that we just have yet to discover. The challenge is discovering what goes on in their heads since we can't ask them questions, and have to devise understanding through watching their lifestyles, relationships and environmental behaviors. Since the octopus has such interesting physical abilities, not to mention being capable of manipulating objects so well, it stands to reason that they would enjoy all manner of shenanigans. >>;=)

Be careful with that octopus when The Deep is around.

As someone on the spectrum, having an octopus as a therapy animal would be a total dream come true! Sadly they don’t live very long but the bonds they form with humans is said to extend beyond that of mankind and animal, since cephalopods are such intelligent animals and have such a unique biology, they should get more praise in the world then they already do

With an intelligence that reaches well into the capacity for abstract thinking, one might ask the question if the octopus finds the idea of confinement as intolerable as a human. Not in the sense of the limited size of the space or the quality of the habitat, but simply the fact that it cannot choose to leave if it wants to.

I had a pet octopus as a teen and I named it Krakey. I loved adding small toy boats to its tank and it would push and pull them around and even sink some. It was awesome. RIP Krakey, you were my only octopus I ever had. Now I wanna get another one.

Heidi seems social and LONELY

My family had a pet octopus for a couple of months (long story) and it was returned to the ocean. While in the aquarium it would angle jets of water through a tiny gap in the glass lid and squirt my children to make them squeal! It enjoyed the interaction. It would also hide from visitors. I hope it had a very happy 🐙 life. I won't eat octopus or cuttlefish 💖 from Australia xx

we used to have this snail in our aquarium that somehow figured out how to play kinda like the octopus did with the pill bottle. the snail would always go over to this bubble strip thingy then it would release and just float up with all the bubbles then around with the current until it slowly sank to the floor, immediately it would start heading straight back to that bubble thingy and do it all again, over and over. It just blew me away, this snail was actually playing! after that I wasn't too surprised to learn snails are actually related to octopus squids and cuttlefish and the like

You know I can never look at a octopus the same after The Boys.

This is why I love octopus

That is the clearest water I have ever seen

I gave up eating octopus (it's common along coastal cities). I finally recently recognized how smart these creatures are (it's estimated to be the same as a 3 or 4 year old human toddler's intelligence) and I just don't feel right eating them anymore.

Humans do not give other animals enough credit. Loved the 600 million year fact. I hope we can start protecting and respecting the other inhabitants on this planet. If not we will all suffer equally.

1:31 woww so adorable house for the adorable octopus 😭❤️✨ luv ya !!

There are many benefits to being a marine biologist

“They are looking back” That’s why u don’t keep an octopus in ur room at night

The octopus is my favorite sea animal. They are intelligent, entertaining, and beautiful.

Maybe they are really from meteors and not of this Earth. Amazing creatures.

Fascinating. Never seen this before. Such interaction between a human and an octopus. The octopus was so curious about everything. About her. Glad to see that the tank is large. Not small. More needed room for your octopus.

Many years back now as a young man, I was snorkelling by a peninsula of rocks in the Mediterranean just off the Spanish Costa del Sol when I found myself being eyed very closely like this by a big octopus with two of its arms stretched between big rocks.. It was no more than a metre away and, despite my naturally curious inclination to swim even closer, I admit to being more than a little taken aback by its apparently sudden appearance and so after a brief moment slowly turned and left the creature to its own devices. It was an amazing experience, for sure, its watchful look so alien and yet so human. You don't ever forget things like that.

Chilling. Seeing this I understand why Lovecraft used the octopus imagery so often. It really could be an alien life form with a little imagination.

Have never understood our fascination with aliens when we have such wonderful creatures to study and play with

if octopuses are really that intelligent then that octopus is intelligent enough to know that it's bored as hell stuck in that guy's house

"almost certainly a bit bored in captivity." This is major concern and what filling my brain whilst watching this. Wouldn't the animal be happier in its natural environment?

These amazing creatures have long fascinated me. I hope that I may, someday, get to meet an octopus.

Octopuses are such unique animals, I love them.

Not sure why people find them creepy I think they’re so beautiful and so incredible to watch in the water

Until very recently, biologists were rather bewildered about why an animal that lives an almost entirely solitary life could be so friendly and sociable with the researchers who studied them. (It's just been revealed that certain octopuses live in much less solitary circumstances than was previously believed.) I've (rather facetiously) wondered if the octopus is such a sociable soul because, with those multiple brains for controlling its several arms, it's used to "group-living" in its own head!

They are so incredibly human in their behavior.

"You feel like they're looking back That's not an illusion." Correct - it's a feeling.

Can't stop thinking about how clean that little aquarium is 🤩

"They look at the eyes" Octopus thinking: "Why do you keep me prisoner you imbecile human while claiming you are more humane than others".

Yes, when you think about it, it really is remarkable that such a highly evolved creature would even try to commune or communicate with such an unevolved creature.

The little wave the Octopus gives him at 2:07 ❤❤❤

I could imagine that they could have built their own civilization by now if they aren't hampered by their 1 year life span. They certainly seem smart enough for it.

Such a beautiful & intelligent creature.

What absolutely amazes me is they learn everything by them selves with no parental input and seemingly no social input.

[4:07] What is it doing with this cool little maneuver, I wonder? I don't think I've ever seen them sitting still and twirling their little tenties like that before. They're such awesome and intriguing critters!

Since he was saying that octopi are very self-aware, do you think that the octopus is posing for the camera at any point in the video? "Paint me like one of your French-girls, Jack."

What a beautiful little creature 🐙

Octopus playing fetch with itself.

actually having owned one of these as a pet, as well as many other salt water fish as well as many fresh water fish, i can tell you that the level of intelegence with salt water life is far beyond those of freshwater, i've seen fish play just as much. and they also respond to music, mine would actually dance and change colors when i played certian types of music, and other types he would change color to a dark color and almost scald at me until i changed it.. funny part was that his favorite was heavy metal metalica, and his favorite of all was "and justice for all" which was amazing to see him litterally head bang when i played it. ive had fish that would get excited whenever my kids would enter the room and entise them to play along. amazing stuff.. really, we should be looking at using sounds and light more than objects for study. because they do respond increditably with sound and light.

WOW! The half and half color stage was amazing! I would never guess they could make a straight line on their bodies. This is a very enjoyable series.

Thank you for helping people to learn about these fascinating creatures xx

They are so beautiful and so smart, quite literally smarter than most humans. If they could talk we should feel great honer in hearing them.

I love them so so so much! What wonderfully intelligent and magical creatures they are! 💕🐙💕

Octopi are amazing creatures, but don't try getting one as a pet. They're too intelligent to be treated like a goldfish, and will grow depressed without continued stimulation.

Heidi is adorable! I love that she plays!

How do you get one of these for home? I’d never sleep! I’d be watching him all day and night!

I watched another video about a marine facility that was having specimens mysteriously disappear. After several months they discovered that the octopus they kept there, had worked out how to escape his tank, and at night he we sneaking into the other area of the facility, eating the specimens, and then sneaking back into his tank. They are not only smart, but they are crafty too. This indicates to me that they have some grasp of empathy

the fish tank is so beautiful, they are like in the wild, the octopus is playing in the tank with the objects in it

I always wanted an octopus, though I would not call it a pet. To create a world or environment that is safe and changing for both of us. To learn and grow with this animal and learn to listen would be amazing. I will just have to live and watch others as they learn and grow.

That octopus deserves a much larger environment to live in. Imagine living in a clear closet.

"My Octopus Teacher" on Netflix is a must watch! You'll see all of this stuff in full in that documentary. Very interesting and emotional.

How anyone can harm such a beautiful, intelligent animal is beyond me. Fantastic video.

Their memory retention is amazing....

Beautiful sentient beings ❤️

Octopus are my favorite sea creatures. They're so intelligent it blows my mind. Humans have this idea that we're the smartest creatures on the planet just because we took control over everything we could but I sincerely think octopi are either pretty close or just as intelligent. This one has a friend, plays with toys, etc. In other cases they reason and make emotional responses and solve problems, even outsmart us to make escapes. If they could speak our language I wonder what they would say. Our intelligences are so vastly different not in quality but in how they work, they're the best. I loved watching Heidi and Lauren, it seems less like Heidi is a pet and more like a friend. It's fascinating.

Why is it extraordinary that she have a relationship with the octopus? They’re one of the most intelligent animals in the world, problem-solving, extremely sociable creatures, acutely aware of their surroundings, to me it’s no different than having a cat or a dog, as a matter of fact the octopus is much smarter than a cat or a dog, unfortunately unless you have a very large tank, you can’t really get in there and play with them, all you can do is what they’re doing in the video, and put your hand or arm in the tank to play with him or her. I have always been absolutely fascinated by these creatures, had I the means, I would have a gigantic aquarium in my home with several octopi, because I have played with them in the wild, and even in their natural habitat they are intensely curious, but in no way have it ever once been threatening, quite the opposite in fact. Years ago I had one that would not let go, I was running out of air and I had to surface, and this little guy clung to my head, refusing to let go of me, insisting on pulling me back into the water, so I switched tanks as fast as I could while still in the water and spent another hour playing with this wild octopus. It was the most incredible sensation you could imagine, for the briefest of moments I didn’t feel like I was playing with an animal, I felt like I was playing with a child, because there that intelligent. I was so fortunate to have that experience, as very few people ever do get the chance, but if ever the opportunity presents itself, I guarantee you will fall in love with these animals, just keep an open mind, and remember that they are not the vicious creatures folklore would have you believe, as a matter of fact I find them incredibly affectionate, intelligent, playful, and they do recognize me, because every time I go back to that same spot the same octopus comes out every time, despite the fact that there are dozens of them all within the same area. Just wish I would’ve became a marine biologist instead of an x-ray technologist.

So cool that she plays like a dog or cat and loves toys. She is so smart.

This footage is beautifully filmed.

I am so loving this series on Heidi! Please keep more videos coming about her.