By RACHAEL McDONALD/KLCC News
There’s a new giant Pacific octopus at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport — thanks to a local crab boat.
Hatfield Marine Science Center put the word out last winter asking local fishermen to alert them if an octopus attached itself to a crab pot. Jaimie Hart, the senior aquarist at Hatfield, said they got a call in March from the vessel Timmy Boy that they had caught one. After a quarantine period, the octopus is on exhibit in their visitors center.
Hart told KLCC the creature weighs 20 pounds and may be an older fellow.
“He’s got that perfect giant Pacific octopus personality where he’s just a little bit smarter, a little bit wiser,” she said. “He’s a big boy and I’m really pleased with how he acts just like an octopus.”
Hart said it’s thanks to local crabbers that they are able to acquire octopuses. Octopuses are known to attach themselves to crab pots because they’re full of tasty food. When they got the call from the Timmy Boy’s crew, Hatfield staff went down to the dock with a special tote and then brought the octopus back to the facility.
The octopus was donated in early March. Hart said it had been a long time since they’ve had an octopus at Hatfield.
“So naturally, we’re really excited. All of our volunteers and staff people miss having an octopus around,” Hart said. “We’re just slowly moving into public feeding so we can have people gather round and give a little talk and introduce our octopus. That’s really important for people to see one in person up close so they can fall in love with marine life like we all have.”
Since Hatfield is a research facility, they don’t name their residents octopuses. This one is identified only as number 2401.
Hart said they try to keep octopuses for as short an amount of time as possible and then return them to the ocean. In the past, they’ve kept them for up to 6 to 9 months. But, this one is larger than previous octopuses they’ve had at Hatfield.
“If he starts to show signs that he’s outgrowing his tank too fast, we’ll work to release him a bit earlier than the ones we’ve had in the past,” she said.
Soon, they’ll have regular scheduled public feeding times at the visitors center.
- This story originally appeared on KLCC, a nonprofit public radio station in Eugene and a news partner of YachatsNews
