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There must be, if you really think about it, plenty of creatures we haven’t seen yet. Especially in the ocean, which is famously under-explored. There are a few creatures that we’ve only seen a handful of times, and the blanket octopus is one of them. In fact, seeing one is so unlikely that even a researcher who spends most of her time looking for rare animals considers it to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. But recently, reef guide and marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton spotted the exceedingly rare animal off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
“When I first saw it, I thought it could have been a juvenile fish with long fins,” she told The Guardian. “But as it came closer, I realized it was a female blanket octopus and I had this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement. I kept yelling through my snorkel, ‘it’s a blanket octopus!’ I was so excited I was finding it difficult to hold my breath to dive down and video it.”
The first time anyone ever saw a live male was 21 years ago, in an area of the Great Barrier Reef called the Ribbon Reefs. While there is still so much we don’t know about them, it’s believed that females can grow up to two meters in length while the males have only been seen to grow to about 2.4-cm long. The males are also far less visually striking, since they lack the shimmering “blanket” that the females have.
Interestingly, the females have developed a curious habit of carrying blue-bottle jellyfish around with them as a form of self-defense. Shackleton told reporters that she thinks she is only the third person ever to have seen a blanket octopus in this area, since they generally spend most of their lives in the deep ocean.
“Seeing one in real life is indescribable,” she continued. “I was so captivated by its movements, it was as if it was dancing through the water with a flowing cape. The vibrant colors are just so incredible, you can’t take your eyes off it. I’ve truly never seen anything like it before and don’t think I ever will again in my life.”
