A Salty Story
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HARRY THE GIANT OCTOPUS
by
Steve Fletcher
I could not help it, I had to send you this true story about "Harry". I am the manager of Sealand Ecological Oceanarium in British Columbia, Canada. We have several Octopi, but one I raised from a youngster, which now weights about 125 pounds, and he is partial to me. When I go in to clean the glass and tidy up a bit he likes to climb an my shoulder, watches what is going on, and looks into my mask with his big curious cat eyes.
When I leave he gently climbs off looking for his treat, a large crab I take in with me. Well one day we had a volunteer diver who said he had lots of hours diving. He went into Harry's tank, but before doing so I just forgot to tell him he should ignore him. Harry came straight out, grabbed him with his tentacles and swung up on his shoulder. The volunteer bit his mouthpiece off (and part of his tongue), and it scared the hell out of Harry causing him to shoot his ink. We had to jump in and pull the volunteer out screaming, and he never came back.
The moral of this story is, no matter how good you think you are, never underestimate a giant Pacific Octopus. It may backfire on you!
Steve Fletcher
April 1999
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