The Hairy Octopus is one of the rarest critters in Lembeh Strait. It can be only seen extremely seldom throughout the year and is mainly spotted during a short period towards the end of the year. Usually this is in October-November. But this year we had a extremely good pre High Season with stable low water temperatures the whole of July and August. This cold water kick starts the reproduction cycle of the rare critters each year. And today we saw two Hairy Octopus mating on the first of September. Not only a great experience, but possibly also the start of an exceptional High Season.
Our Junior Guide Opit found the first one (congratulations Opit for your first Hairy Octopus!) and after a while i saw the second one not far from it. Unfortunately the first one was much bigger than the second one … the smaller one was about the size of my fingernail.
Therefor it cannot be seen on the photo of the mating process as it completely disappeared under the arms of the bigger Octopus.
Creature Feature
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Blackwater Dives are all about the weird and wonderful. Strange larval fish that you haven’t seen before, little crustaceans seemingly just floating around, and hunting squids are all part of the regular sightings we get Read more…
