Secrets of the Octopus

They have four hearts!

No three! Still.

They live such short lives though, it's quite tragic.

Yes, R3, about three years.

The one I ate the other night at Jose Andres’ Aqua Viva restaurant was delicious. Love a well cooked Octo!!

Did you like the potato foam, R5?

I watched the third and final episode of the National Geographic docuseries "Secrets of the Octopus" and highly recommend it.

There is an octopus named Scarlett that befriends a NatGeo explorer who spent two years exploring their underwater world.

The visually stunning series was executive produced by James Cameron and narrated by Paul Rudd.

The octopuses were filmed in their natural habitat over 200 days by the production team.

Even if you think you might not be interested in this, I urge you to give it a try.

Years ago I read a short story in either Alfred Hitchcock or Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

It was about a young female Marine Biologist who was working with a captive octopus. They formed a very strong bond.

One night the woman’s abusive ex boyfriend breaks into the lab, beats and kills her while the octopus watches.

The boyfriend panics and runs, leaving her body on the floor. The reader then sees the rage and sorrow of the octopus as it tries to escape his tank to help his friend.

The boyfriend comes back to get rid of the body just as the octopus breaks free.

The next morning the lab supervisor finds the bodies of the girl and the boyfriend while the octopus watches from his tank.

OK, maybe not the most plausible story, but oddly touching. Enough so that out of the thousands of short mysteries I’ve read, this is among the ones I remember.