Coconut-Carrying Octopus

A direct link to the above video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoWdHOtlrk

This amazing video was linked to an article published today at The Huffington Post, thank you to my friend Pete Chema of Ten Feet Deep for sending it on to me. It immediately reminded me of some of the entries I've posted over the last few months about how humans are not nearly as special as we think, and that what makes us conscious beings is more part of a continuum of different levels and kinds of consciousness. The Huffington Post article is entitled Coconut-Carrying Octopus: First Evidence Of Tool Use In Invertebrate, Researcher 'Gobsmacked'. What's remarkable here is that these creatures are seen gathering coconut shell halves, transporting them to another area, then using the halves to construct a hiding place for themselves - evidence of planning, and an activity that actually leaves the octopus exposed to danger while they are doing it, but gives them an advantage when they are done, which seems to imply a surprising level of forethought.

My video for Alien Life and Sea Dragons showed another amazing sea creature:

A direct link to the above video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_LO-q20c6o

With this Huffington Post article, I particularly like the concluding quote, because it sounds so much like the things I've been saying with my project. Simon Robson, associate professor of tropical biology at James Cook University in Townsville, had this to say after viewing the complex behavior of the coconut-carrying octopus:

"It's another example where we can think about how similar humans are to the rest of the world. We are just a continuum of the entire planet."

I couldn't agree more.

Enjoy the journey!

Rob Bryanton

Next: Time and Schizophrenia