Pall Sigurdsson and his buddies had no clue they’d end up playing “realtor” to a small marine creature in dire need of a new home when they went diving in the waters near Indonesia last December.
Sigurdsson came upon this small coconut octopus who’d set up residence inside a transparent plastic cup while investigating near the ocean floor.
Seeing rubbish dotting the underwater environment was depressing enough, but Sigurdsson knew that this specific piece of trash was risking life.
Not only was it failing to conceal the octopus, but any predators hunting for a quick meal would almost certainly consume the cup as well.
So Sigurdsson and the rest of the team set to work. The rest of their dive was spent combing the bottom for a more suitable habitat, gently giving the octopus several clamshells until he found one he liked.
Time was of the essence during this little house-hunting mission, as the group’s air supply was soon dwindling, but thankfully the betentacled animal eventually made his choice.
“Coconut octopus are famous for being very picky about which shells they keep,” Sigurdsson wrote online. “So we had to try with many different shells before it found one to be acceptable.”
“We tend to focus on plastic pollution because it is simple to see and realize how horrible it is since it floats,” Sigurdsson told The Dodo. “I spend a lot of time diving throughout the world’s ocean floors, and the amount of rubbish on the bottom is really astounding.”
Every year, between 4.8 and 12.7 metric tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans, endangering the lives of countless species. That huge size might be difficult to comprehend, but perhaps, the narrative of this small creature’s housing experience will bring this issue to light.
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