Viewers witness the creature turn light to dark while sleeping and it has now raised questions about the mysterious sea cephalopod's dreaming pattern.
An octopus is a fascinating creature with blue blood, three hearts, and sometimes even nine brains. However, these are not the only astonishing physical aspects of this underwater animal. In a YouTube video, marine biologist and Alaska Pacific University professor David Scheel showcased these cephalopods' ability to shift color while sleeping and the visuals left most viewers surprised.
Uploaded by Nature on PBS, the video captures a sleeping octopus named Heidi changing her color multiple times. Narrating the video, David Scheel describes witnessing something unique at his home. With the camera focusing on the octopus inside an aquarium, Scheel narrates, "Last night I witnessed something I have never seen recorded before." The next frame of the video transitions to the octopus slowly changing its body color. At the sight of the changing color, the marine biologist says, "If she is dreaming, this is a dramatic moment."
As the video progresses, Scheel narrates what the dream might be based on the octopus's color at that moment, saying, "She's asleep; she sees a crab and her color starts to change a little bit." Within a span of a few seconds, we see Heidi change her color and Scheel says, "Then she turns all dark. Octopuses will do that when they leave the bottom."
The marine biologist describes to his audience, "This is a camouflage, like she's just subdued a crab and now she's going to sit there and eat it and she doesn't want anyone to notice her."
In the end moments of the brief clip, Dr. Scheel talks about how fascinating these creatures are. "I mean just to be able to see all the colors flashing one after another. You don't really see that in animals, this is really fascinating." He ends the clip with a smile, saying, "If she's dreaming, that's the dream."
The short clip is a part of the documentary titled "Octopus: Making Contact." Released in 2019, this documentary demonstrated the octopus's special abilities to solve puzzles, use tools, and escape through small spaces. She behaves like a family pet as she learns to recognize faces and expresses excitement at the sight of humans coming near her aquarium tank. She even exhibits an inclination to play with Scheel’s daughter, as per BoredPanda.
The YouTube video has had heavy engagement so far and has garnered over 4 million views. People are captivated by the octopus's color-changing ability while sleeping. One user, @karenahmed4722, commented, "How precious. You can see her little eyes move, too. Sweet little thing."
Share on Facebook
