Seal vs Giant Pacific Octopus | Vancouver Island

On Sunday, January 21, 2024, towards the end of our night dive, we saw a seal swim by us. We noticed it eating something. I thought it was trying to eat something off a rock. Turns out, he was attacking a giant Pacific octopus! It was cool to see the octopus ink to try to confuse the predator. Spoiler alert, the octopus lost an arm, but was able to swim off. Luckily, he will be able to regrow his lost arm!

[@OliviasReef]

That's wild! I've had seals hunting for fish with me on nights dives around Vancouver but this is next level! 🤯 Great capture and thanks for sharing!

[@scubamax]

Thank you! That would be cool to see too!

[@SaltyCrabOfficial]

Amazing video!! Truly epic

[@scubamax]

Thank you :)

[@emeraldsky8009]

Wow what a video! For me, it raises so many questions about this interaction! To me it seemed the seal was specifically looking to tear off an arm, which makes me think this isn't a one off.

[@scubamax]

Thanks! At first, the seal was nibbling on the body of the octopus (hard to see since we were further away so the camera didn't really pick it up), and clearly realized that wasn't doing much. So eventually, the seal realizes that pulling an arm off would be easier. Maybe this seal has tasted octopus before and knew? Or maybe he figured it out after a few attempts. Who knows.

[@_nauticaldisaster_]

Seen this a few times working at sea. Especially up the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait. I took a video a few years ago of two seals sharing an octopus and plaid tug-o-war until the octopus split in two. The octopus put up a good fight.

[@scubamax]

Yikes! That would have been quite the sight! Out of curiosity, did you film this above or below water?

[@scubabc6701]

Wow, so cool to see that! I guess the octopus has 7 other arms! I've found a few the last few months that had arms missing.

[@scubamax]

Yes, it was a pretty exhilarating dive! I think it's fairly common for octopus to be missing arms, they seem to adapt pretty well to missing a few haha!

[@LtJackboot]

Came here from ChekNews! SPECFKNTACULAR footage! The Octo will grow the limb back in no time. 👍

[@scubamax]

Thank you 😁

[@Matteo.scubamaster]

What a great experience to have witnessed this with you! Once in a life time!

[@scubamax]

So happy we got to experience this moment together ❤️

[@paulblank6153]

Incredible encounter, and what an experience for you! Thanks for sharing.

[@scubamax]

Thanks :)

[@laabel5969]

Amazing capture and kudos for holding the camera so steady! Thanks for sharing

[@scubamax]

Thanks! I was breathing pretty heavily!

[@LucyLeeson]

Hi Max, hope you are well. I am from the video desk at The Independent. I was just wondering if we would be able to use your video, with a credit, for an article on our website, please? Kind regards, Lucy

[@scubamax]

Yes :)

[@LucyLeeson]

Thank you so much, do you have an email address i can message you on please?@@scubamax

[@LucyLeeson]

@@scubamax Do you have an email address I can contact you on, please?

[@mariaguadalupedominguez89]

Nicely done ✔

[@scubamax]

Thank you :)

[@raihanfarrelofficial]

I'm a Little Mermaid fan and this is the end of Unfortunate Soul.

[@scubamax]

I also love the Little Mermaid :)

[@raihanfarrelofficial]

@@scubamax I have watch it Last Year

[@brandiwisen8153]

That's crazy!! Sad to see in real life ,but 8n the end it works out for the octopus. 😢 I would find the urge to interfere very,very hard .

[@scubamax]

Yes, it was hard to watch. But Harbour seals can reach up to 285 lbs and they have pretty big teeth. We were not at the top of the food chain underwater. There is nothing we could have done to help the octopus unfortunately.

[@mmayer1558]

Damn. It's gonna be a heptapus soon 😫

[@scubamax]

haha I guess so!

[@WowRixter]

Amazing

[@scubamax]

Thanks!

[@Shellfish824]

as the self designated most edaucated person here, thats a Phoca vitulina, or common seal. i had thought it was a sea lion at first though..

[@KatAdair]

OMG, that's heartbreaking!

[@scubamax]

I know, it was really hard to watch 😢

[@unchartedodyssey]

That's so cool! Some blue planet content right there this is going to kill it!

[@scubamax]

Thanks!

[@cdmulders]

Max, I heard about your video while diving with the GORDs (Grumpy Old Retired Divers) yesterday, and didn't realize that it was you who took this great video! Well done!! We had an amazing sea lion encounter at Wall Beach last Tuesday and at Cottam Point yesterday as well. They are so inquisitive. Hope to cross paths and splash with you in 2024.

[@scubamax]

Hahaha love the acronym! Glad you guys enjoyed the video! Sea lions are always (well usually) a highlight of any dive! Here's to another great year of diving! Cheers!

[@amvrsa]

Its hard how crurl nature is

[@scubamax]

sure is :(

[@dannytripper]

Feel so bad for that octopus

[@scubamax]

I know, it was really hard to watch in person. In the moment, I was thinking I should stop filming, but then realized that perhaps this had never been filmed before. I'm just happy the seal was content with one arm, and the octopus was able to swim away.

[@tannguyen95]

Octopus will grow another arm soon.

[@scubamax]

yes, it sure will :)

[@horrorkld9]

"I don't think that humans should interfere with nature" - person lighting up the buffet to make it easier to find as the octo darts away and inks. I love both of these critters and am happy to see either get a meal, but that narration felt like someone touting themselves as an environmentalist while being fully unaware of their impact on the environment around them.

[@scubamax]

As divers, we obviously have an impact on the environment around us. You could say the same about any outdoor activity. The seal found the octopus in the dark on its own, and then the octopus swam towards us and our lights. If it wanted to escape in the darkness, it could have swam the other way. Of course, our presence had an impact on this interaction, but I don't think the outcome would have been much different if we weren't there. Male octopuses lose all common sense after they mate, and are often found in shallow open waters, vulnerable to predators. This guy was in 10 ft of water, nowhere near any crevices to hide in, which made him an easy snack. I had a feeling that this underwater behaviour had never been caught on camera before, so I wanted to record it and share it with the scientific community.

[@horrorkld9]

What channels have you used to share this with the scientific community?

[@emeraldsky8009]

There are real environmental problems in this world, a single GPO loosing part of a leg to a harbour seal isn't one of them, even if it is caused by a diver.

[@horrorkld9]

@@emeraldsky8009 My complaint was mainly with the narration, not with the action itself. I'd rather not hear people celebrate themselves for being so conscientious while simultaneously being oblivious to the impact of their actions. That is something that becomes the much bigger environmental problem that this world faces.

[@seansmyrichinsky2422]

Seals use divers lights to hunt. The octo would have had a better chance if it wasn’t sitting under a spotlight.

[@scubamax]

Seals have good night vision and this one found the octopus on its own in the dark before we got there. Obviously as divers, we have an impact on animal behaviour, but we only filmed for 2 minutes and once the octopus swam away, we moved on. This was an unfortunate event, but I had a feeling that it had never been captured on camera before so I wanted to share it with the scientific community.

[@eatprayloveify]

​@scubamax I'm curious why you call this an unfortunate event. It's a seal doing what they do. It's just part of nature and what happens in nature isn't always pretty.

[@scubamax]

@@eatprayloveify Bad choice of words perhaps. It's sad to see an animal being attacked, but yes, you are right, it is nature and seals need to eat.