Credits: Social Media
Biologist says those cute octopus videos you love are actually abuse
A grad student studying cephalopods has argued that the adorable octopus videos racking up millions of likes on TikTok are actually a form of animal abuse.
We humans really do love our animals, from the dogs and cats that serve as our loyal pets to the strange eating habits of sharks. Unfortunately, sometimes that love overrides our senses and sparks instances like people asking for a pet hyena.
The octopus is a cute creature, so leave it alone
Earlier this week, octopus biologist Meg (@invertebabe) took to TikTok with a troubling video that many readers could probably recognize thanks to the hordes of octopus videos bobbing around social media apps.
If you’ve seen a stunning video of an octopus swirling in the water column, the space between the bed and the surface, we’re sorry to say that the octopus was likely having a bad time.
“The majority of these videos always occur in Hawaii, and Hawaii octopuses are benthic dwellers, meaning they live on the ocean floor,” Meg explained. “They do not swim in the water column.”
As per National Geographic and the Shedd Aquarium, benthic octopuses prefer to crawl on the ocean floor because swimming is simply exhausting for them. Out in the open, they are also big bundles of squiggly protein, making them easy pickings for toothy predators.
Meg continued to explain that octopuses use either inking, jetting, or camouflage as their primary modes of defense. None of these work particularly well in the water column, with jetting simply being too exhausting to maintain more than once or twice.
Because they won’t naturally journey into the water column, videos of octopuses swirling unprotected are either placed there manually by humans or scared into that position, Meg claimed.
Many of these videos rack up 10 to 20 million views, so next time you come across one, maybe think about the creature before double-tapping.
TikTok users are reconsidering their stance
Much like the sudden realization that spiders released outside are dead, many TikTok users confessed to changing their position after Meg’s video.
One person said: “Oh no! This is so sad! I didn’t know!!!! I haven’t watched octopus videos but I will make sure I do not. Thank you for this info.”
“Like why cant they just respectfully film the animal at a distance without messing with it and moving it,” someone else questioned.
A third wrote: “The more you learn about cutesy animal videos, the more it all boils down to abuse& always.”
