Blanket Octopus spotted on Great Barrier Reef; netizens call it a 'great encounter'

Social media is filled with several videos of animals that capture the attention of netizens. Adding to them, a video has surfaced on the internet which shows a blanket octopus. The blanket octopus has been spotted by marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton off the coast of Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 

Jacinta Shackleton has posted the video of the female blanket octopus on Instagram. In the video, the blanket octopus is seen to be colourful, with red and orange colours. In the caption, Shackleton revealed that these animals are rarely sighted and the first live male was spotted in 2002. Furthermore, she informed that these marine species spend their whole life cycle in the open ocean. Watch the video here: 

Blanket Octopus spotted 

The marine biologist sighted the blanket octopus while snorkelling and mentioned that the animal had eye spots all over its blanket which was beautiful. Shackleton told ABC News that she has been diving around Lady Elliot Island for nearly four years and on January 6, 2022, she witnessed the blanket octopus which she initially thought to be a juvenile fish. However, later she realised that it was a blanket octopus and could not stop herself from screaming and called the sighting "special", as per the ABC News report. Jacinta Shackleton added that the blanket octopus she spotted was female and was very small, comparing it to the size of a large walnut. 

Netizens say 'What a privilege'

Since being shared on the photo-sharing site, the video has received over 23,000 likes. The clip has garnered the attention of social media users who expressed their views in the comments section. One user commented, “That’s unbelievable! Great encounter.” “What a privilege,!” commented another user. Another user wrote, “How incredibly lucky - very happy you were there so we can all see these beauties.” Check out some user reactions: 

Image: Instagram/@jacintashackleton