One smart octopus

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I came across this photo at the Globe today: "An octopus named Octi attempts to open a bottle using its tentacles to get to the food inside at the National Aquarium of New Zealand in the town of Napier."

Curious -- who wouldn't be? -- I did a little research and came across an article at The New Zealand Herald. It seems Octi can use two of her tentacles "to twist the lid off a bottle to get to her dinner". It takes her "2 1/2 minutes when there's a tempting crab inside". And that's not all. She "has also learned to rise to the top of the tank, eye up the keeper and squirt water in his face".

"A lot of people don't realise octopuses are very intelligent," said the aquarium's manager. "They are observant and extremely interactive." And friendly.

All pretty amazing, if you ask me.