Lurking in the Octopus's Garden

The Portland hawks have fledged, and although one seems to be having problems with city life, their day-to-day novelas are now offscreen. Adios, I said. Be fruitful and multiply. And watch out for that rush-hour traffic.

Now my friend Sue has discovered the Octocam, at the Hatfield, OR Marine Sciences Visitors' Center. This time it's a giant Pacific Octopus named Derik, and he's just as interesting as the hawks. This is nothing like watching grass grow. Best of all, he won't be flying out of camera range.

I snapped a couple of shots just for a teaser. Unlike the massive VW-size critters in the horror movies, this "giant" has a torso the size of a volleyball, and tenacles about 2.5 feet long. When visitors approach the glass of his aquarium he slips off to the side out of camera range, then when they walk away, he slides a couple of tenacles out, then gracefully glides across the screen, spreading out in all his glory.


If you crave a little more excitement, catch Deriq at feeding time, 1:00pm Pacific Time on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. When he sees his food, he changes colors!  I think I'll set my kitchen timer so I don't miss it.