Possibly the most popular movie ever made by a mollusk -- see it now

The Thief

An underwater photographer was peacefully cruising along a reef when this speedy octopus snaked out an arm and grabbed his Lumix away. The cephalopod then proceeded to jet away at top speed, while filming the whole thing -- unfortunately, with more than a couple of its thumbs covering the lens.

Panasonic Lumix TS1: The octopus has good taste in gear. Not sure how it'll feel about the non-standard video codec though, come upload time.  John Mahoney
You don't worry too much about getting mugged while you're underwater, but it is a real danger. This clever octopus may have thought the camera was a succulent blue crab, or might have simply wanted to pawn it for ready cash. Or it might have a brilliant directorial vision to realize -- your guess is as good as mine. They are extremely intelligent animals.

You can watch the rest of the story below. The soundtrack is by Dalmatian Rex and the Eigentones; the camera is a waterproof and shockproof model by Panasonic.


13 Comments

luvz the story

I wanna know how he finally got the octopus off of his spear gun... probably pulled it out of the water and the octopus realized there was only air around him and let go

well first, pwned. second he proly STABED HIM IN THE NECK WITH A KNIFE to get the speargun back.

You got Jacked Jack! Lucky you wernt wearing your nikes too.

So how does this fit into popular science?

Hey paul actually its the new Panasonic TS2 (aka FT2) instead of the TS1. The owner of the camera/video is here commenting on it. Also the TS1 only goes under 10ft before the seals fail while the TS2 can do 30ft plus it is far more shock resistant for when the octopus beats it around :D

Here is the original video in proper HD
vimeo.com/10966874

Amazing story my friend. I am so amazed the octopus didn't kill you when you went back there for your camera! I hope next time, you won't accidentally get strangled if you lose your camera again!

www.dzinerfusion.com

Off to photograph some prawn

Hi
Sir

I read in your blog.Good thinking in your topics.I love it.

Olivia
............................

I'd have turned the octopus into calamari.

That's what he gets for a snatch-and-grab job.

Capital punishment.

Amazing footage from a camera that only costs $233. I'm buying one for surfing j.mp/ctFzVx

I will never eat "pulpo" again. What a great movie

Cool!I hope everyone has a happy Earth Day. That goes for all the other Earth Days I've missed.



June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email

Contributing Writers:

Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif