Many years ago, as a novice scuba diver, I had the rare and wonderful experience of meeting a Caribbean octopus living off the coast of Martinique. I was stunned as the reclusive mollusk approached the dive leader and started gently exploring his facemask with a tentative tentacle. How amazing it was to witness a softball-sized blob with eight waving arms overcome its fear to satisfy its curiosity. A mollusk, curious? It was one of the most transforming and spiritual moments of my life. And it launched my interest in a life form about as foreign to homo sapiens as it gets. So, research this life form I did!
I found its anatomy fascinating and its mind even more so. Octopus learn very quickly, solve problems impressively, relate to individual humans in individual ways, and have unique personalities and preferences. And we humans continue to discover their multitude of sensory experience (so different from our own) and the biological mechanisms of their mind-blowing camouflage and mimicry. Thus, when some friend from the Pacific Northwest suggested I see “My Octopus Teacher” on Netflix, I was on it!
The award-winning documentary revolves around a South African film maker who immerses himself in the ocean waters of his childhood and meets a particular octopus. He visits the octopus daily to observe its behavior and to try to understand what it might experience as an octopus living in the same world as he. As the story unfolds, they develop what can only be called a relationship, transcending about every imaginable boundary between them.
The underwater photography is beautiful, and the story is, in my mind, a moving and powerful testament to the connection among living things. If that is not spiritual, I don’t know what is. If you choose to see it, my guess is it will impact you in some unforeseen and significant way; it did me.
