Divers outraged over killing of octopus
SEATTLE -- People come to Cove Two in West Seattle for the view, both above and below water. But a round of online pictures went viral and turned diver against diver.
Bob Bailey says he saw two young men carrying a live octopus from the water.
"As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it," he said.
Scott Lundy saw them toss it in a pickup truck.
"Sitting in the back of this truck, it was just squirming and writhing almost. It was really just a sad thing to see," he said.
According to the state, the man in his 20s has a license to fish. He was allowed to take the octopus from the water with his hands, and octopus are not protected in these specific waters. Everything that happened was legal. But Bailey says that doesn't make it right.
"It's just not done," he said. "It's bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn't do it."
The divers didn't like the young men's attitude, saying they had a disregard for the water. Bailey says the men referred to the animal as a "he," but Bailey noted they were wrong.
"I said, 'That's a she and she's probably here to lay eggs.' At which point he looked at me and said 'She was on eggs and now she's not,'" he said.
Bailey hopes it was all talk and a full generation of octopus hasn't been lost.
The man and his family declined to comment on the record, saying there have been threats made because of the online postings.
Bob Bailey says he saw two young men carrying a live octopus from the water.
"As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it," he said.
Scott Lundy saw them toss it in a pickup truck.
"Sitting in the back of this truck, it was just squirming and writhing almost. It was really just a sad thing to see," he said.
According to the state, the man in his 20s has a license to fish. He was allowed to take the octopus from the water with his hands, and octopus are not protected in these specific waters. Everything that happened was legal. But Bailey says that doesn't make it right.
"It's just not done," he said. "It's bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn't do it."
The divers didn't like the young men's attitude, saying they had a disregard for the water. Bailey says the men referred to the animal as a "he," but Bailey noted they were wrong.
"I said, 'That's a she and she's probably here to lay eggs.' At which point he looked at me and said 'She was on eggs and now she's not,'" he said.
Bailey hopes it was all talk and a full generation of octopus hasn't been lost.
The man and his family declined to comment on the record, saying there have been threats made because of the online postings.
Thank God for the two men that reported and publicized these sickos . If you are going to be so disgustingly ignorant as to take a mother octopus off of her eggs at least have the compassion to kill her outright than to allow her to
slowly suffocate in terror and pain. Of course, there are always going to be those less developed people out there exhibiting backward behavior. These people are an embarrassment to the progressive state of Washington. Hopefully soon we will consider them the "invasive species" . Educate yourselves: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6474/, http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2008/06/how_smart_is_the_octopus.html. By the way, neanderthals, feel free to come and threaten me, you cute little cats.
I dont know Washington laws but in Oregon they are considered a invasive species. No licence is needed to take them. This is nothing new other than it went viral and the media got a hold of it. If you have never caught on on a fishing pole you are in for a real treat. I applaud these guys for taking it, and they most likely had a good meal.
I love octopus :> Â
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Especially baby octopus salad. Â
That's okay cuz karma ALWAYS comes back around. They know what they did was wrong and God will handle it. Don't forget that we are all God's creatures, even the octopus.
I guarantee these assholes weren't catching it to cook and eat it, and it was just for sport!!! It's funny how on this site they have the guy's face blurred out, but if you go on yahoo they don't.
This isn't the whole story, the octopus was incubating over 100,000 eggs which will die if not protected.Â
People its FOOD! Do you make the same noise when they bring in a Salmon flopping around or Crabs crawling, NO.
As long as the person is not selling and is using it for themselves you have no case.
Seems alright to "fish" for octopus - not my bag and I don't like it per se, but if they are not endangered, have at it.
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I like doing what I do and people staying out of my business and reciprocate that idea. To each his own. Leave your delicate sensibilities at the door.
Thousands of cows' throats are sliced after a lifetime of walking around in manure and being injected with steroids each day.
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Tens of thousands of chickens live in squalor, not even able to stand because their bodies are too big for their legs to support them, until they're beheaded on a conveyor belt, each day.
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Thousands of pigs bleed out as their throats are punctured, each day.
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And you're worried about 1 octopus that was pulled out of the water?
 @Improprietous Thanks. Now I'm hungry again.
 @Improprietous All of the animals you listed are domesticated.  You can't even begin to compare the two.
 @Daniel C Thank you for missing my point completely.
this is so good way to cook it yum. I think ill go diving tomorrow ! thanks. Red Octopus Meze3 3 3 3 3YumRECIPE BY Food.comIngredients3 12 lbs octopus3 ozs red wine vinegar1 tbsp oregano (mediterranean)olive oilred wine vinegar1 garlic clove (crushed optional)PREP TIME1 minTOTAL TIME41 minSERVINGS UpdateSee a problem? Let us knowPreparation5 Read full directions on Food.comNutrition FactsAmount Per ServingCalories 120Calories from Fat 35% Daily Value *Total Fat 4g6%Saturated Fat 0g0%Trans Fat 0gCholesterol 70mg23%Sodium 0mg0%Potassium 10mg0%Total Carbohydrate 0g0%Dietary Fiber 0g0%Sugars 0gProtein 21gVitamin A0%Vitamin C0%Calcium8%Iron50% TastesSALTYSAVORYSOURBITTERSWEETSPICY Recipe TagsAppetizersComments
Seriously? If it had been a salmon who would complain?Â
Died for a cheap thrill?
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Maybe its time to offer a measure of protection for such animals... Seems entirely self-indulgent of these two young fellows to use an animal this away. One that had it been allowed to live, would have benefited far more people by seeing it alive.
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I am a former Seattle resident and have dove Puget Sound, even collecting specimens of various aquatic life for display in the Seattle Aquarium back in the early 1990s. These were lower order sealife, not intelligent octopi, and served a greater purpose for educating the public.
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What these callow fellows did was inexcusable.
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Washington State legislators! It is time to consider some protections for the Giant Pacific Octopus.
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Hon. Steven W Lindsey
state rep
Keene, NH
 @Taximan Steve Lindsey Great, a politician.
Get of your high horse and quit looking for ways to take away our rights and freedoms.
I know that's hard for polls to understand but crack open your constitution and see if you can figure it out.
The Republic is nearly gone. Thanks to hacks like you.
If you are going to hunt animals for food, you have a moral obligation to do so with respect and mercy. To needlessly inflict pain and suffering on an animal is wrong.
 @Altazi Feel free to read the article again and see that the authorities verified that they didn't break any laws.
 Jack_Bauer @Altazi No surprise the Jack_Bauer missed that one completely.Â
It was delicious!Â
 @Red Then it might interest you to try dog or dolphin - about the same intelligence as an octopus. The octopus is gentle, is capable of humor, curious, and deserves much more respect than these people gave it. Hunting in a recreational area where divers routinely interact with the octopus is like duck hunting in a city park where they're being fed. These "divers" are a stain on the rest of us.
 @Dave503  @Red Get over yourself.
Cant remember the last time I heard a good joke from a dog/dolphin/octopus.
 @Jack_Bauer  @Dave503  @Red Maybe not, but we're all laughing at you.
 @Dave503  @Red The divers who are a stain on the rest of us are the ones who took it upon themselves to contact all the dive shops in the NW, tell the owners their view of what happened to anger then and get these guys banned.  What if you did something I didn't like and I did the same thing.  It's not going to stop them from diving.
humans are idiots
Only Some are Idiots! And  God has spared them !... Some need to Be Eliminated.. And  Have been  Pardoned by Idiots in Congress! What  A Bunch  of Phuckin' Idiot's@LostSoul
First absolute law of life is that in order for you to live, something else must die! Be it plant or animal. You can not survive eating minerals (dirt) alone. You choose what you eat. Life is not kind. Only humans believe it should be. Eating meat is what gave us the ability to grow a larger brain, and the meat our ancestors ate the most was carcasses they found. Have you ever watched a pride of lions dig a warthog out of it's lair? Or a school of ling cod eat an octopus? Even though we tend to separate ourselves from what we call "animals", we are still apart of nature. We ALL abuse our natural resources more than all the other animals combined! How many squirrels, birds and raccoons lost their home so you can write that shopping list? How many acres of land did it take to grow enough cotton for your "all natural" shirt? Think of the animals that displaced. Then tack on your Levi's. You are also using electricity to write your complaints. Hmm?? Cemetaries????? If you love nature just 1/10th of what your complaints lead one to believe then you should be living in the woods as a hunter/gatherer not in your current house/apartment. I love nature and animals. They taste good!
 @MickRoh You are wrong about the so called "need" to eat meat. It is a choice. It did not help our brains grow. It did however help us populate the entire earth. There are far fewer resources in the natural world (without shipping) the farther we stray from the equator. Meat filled the caloric gap. Nothing more or less.
 @MickRohRespect for nature is the point.  Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.  Does that not ring true to you?  If humans had such big brains you'd expect those big brains to be used for the good of all.  And, yeah, go ahead and cite all of the things that humans do on a daily basis that aren't for the good of all.  It doesn't change the fact that when faced with a choice a big brained human would actually make the right one.  A small brained human would let his ego guide him.
 @MickRoh "First absolute law of life is that in order for you to live, something else must die!"
1. Do all animals need to suffer before dying....is that also a absolute law of life?
2. Did they eat it? Â I see nothing talking about them eating it....
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"How many squirrels, birds and raccoons lost their home so you can write that shopping list?"
Not sure if you knew this, trees are a renewable resource!
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 @B Smizzle  @MickRoh Read the article again. They said they were going to eat it.
How do you expect them to dispatch the critter? Lethal injection? Odorless gas?
Waiting for your great ideas.
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Gee whiz , Octopus on the west coast are plentiful. They taste wonderful, and are served in most coastal eateries including Hawaii.
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Excellent escape artists...I mean quick. If their beak fits through the crack all the rest of the body also escapes.
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Very hot crab bait if cured for several days (aged), as crabs will not go near a pot with fresh Octopus inside, as crab is a natural food for the sucker. However if aged, the crrabs recognize the scent of the sucker that ate aunt mary and uncle ralph,, brother jim,,,,,etc .
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The grand entrance Octopus at the Hatfield center in s. beach had scientists stumped. There is a wading touchy, freely pool about 75 feet away that would come up short on crabs once in a while. The janitors took most of the brunt until someone on a late shift found and arrested the perp.
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It was the Octopus that can live out of water for a tide change, scooting across the floor to score dinner and then returning to home sweet home in the upturned concrete pipe stood on end.... Â
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@yaquina How about the one in another aquarium that was killing the sharks in it's tank? I forget where it was.....
Octopuses are highly intelligent, likely more so than any other order of invertebrates. The exact extent of their intelligence and learning capability is much debated among biologists, but maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory....
Octopuses have also been observed in what some have described as play: repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them...
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.In some countries, octopuses are on the list of experimental animals on which surgery may not be performed without anesthesia. In the UK, cephalopods such as octopuses are regarded as 'honorary vertebrates' under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and other cruelty to animals legislation, extending to them protections not normally afforded to invertebrates...
The octopus is the only invertebrate which has been shown to use tools. At least four specimens of the veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) have been witnessed retrieving discarded coconut shells, manipulating them, and then reassembling them to use as shelter. This discovery was documented in the journal Current Biology and has also been caught on video
.-- from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
The giant Pacific octopus is considered to be short-lived for an animal of its size, with lifespans that average only 3-5 years in the wild. To make up for its relatively short life span, the octopus is extremely prolific. It can lay up to 100,000 eggs which are intensively cared for by the females, which die protecting the eggs. Hatchlings are about the size of a grain of rice, and very few survive to adulthood.
Oh boo hoo. It's legal folks. If you do not like it do not look at it or read it.
 @Stephen Are you one of the pathetic amoral losers who killed this animal in a torturous way? Even if you aren't, you are sick.
 @whirledworld  @Stephen Whirled, you have proof that this animal was killed in a "torturous" way?  Let me ask, are you vegan?
 @pdxtvguy  @Stephen Nope, not vegan. Nor is my dog nor my parrot. But I eat my meats/seafoods selectively because I know my cousin the hunter/fisher is a very clean kill person who is also very ethical about whom he hunts and when and where and how he takes life. I also know exactly where and from whom my meat/poultry comes from, how it was raised and equally how it was slaughtered and treated during all of that.. Having done undergrad work in animal sciences, fisheries & wildlife, and pre-vet medicine gives me more perspective than many. There is never a reason to take an animal's life in hunting or fishing or farming with anything less than respect and humility and a grateful attitude and the skill to make a clean kill and prevent as much or any suffering before the animal's death. Cavalier, disrespectful, careless, mean, unethical, egotistical entitlement...all these words come to mind when I read of how this octopus was killed.
 @Stephen It might be legal to fish animals but it is not legal to abuse, torture, punch or cause them undue suffering under the guise of hunting/fishing. That is not hunting/fishing.
Show me anywhere in the article or the photos where there was abuse, torture punching or causing them undue suffering? The only abuse, torture is your inane comments.
 @Stephen You must be one of the soulless dudes who caught this poor thing, Mr. Newby 21 pts. Nobody likes what happened. Go away.
@whirledworld @Stephen Have you ever caught an octopus? They can squeeze through any hole bigger than their beak or eyes. They are very difficult to kill on a boat deck so I can imagine this is much more difficult under water. Where in the article does it say they had abused, tortured or punched the animal? What is the fishing industrie's standard method of killing octopus? Usually on a cleaning table by the butcher. Suffocating, to me anyway, seems far less torturous than being ripped apart and eaten alive as what happens to most octopi in nature. Ling cod grab their tentacles and spin until a piece is torn from the animal. Rarely are they ever killed before eaten, like humans do. You eat vegetables while they are still alive in your salads and they have been torn and cut to pieces! And don't tell me that they have no feelings because you have no way to prove that. Science is still studying the concept of awareness in plants and actually have some positive results. For you to live, something must die! Basic law of LIFE!
MickRoh: No I have never caught an octopus, but they are very good eating.
 @whirledworld  @Stephen Legal or not these guys were classic DBs
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 @whirledworld"That's not true. There were no eggs under it, and we checked," he said. "I even had a game warden come over and look at it, and even they said there was no problem with it."
 @pdxtvguy  @rozeguy  @whirledworld  @Stephen I don't understand all the details of hunting this beautiful creature but, for a scuba diver, there is nothing more beautiful to see in motion. We have the biggest Octopus here in the NW and you have to really skulk through cave-like structures or night-dives to see these magnificent creatures. If you're lucky and smart they won't change color because you want them to save that tool for their survival. These are a tourist attraction for divers and to see a fisherman on board a vessel with a voyeure dive-team could mean bad news for the people involved.
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DB's Why? Because you do not like it? Spare me.
@whirledworld @pdxtvguy @rozeguy @Stephen Okay, prove the "egg" remark!
 @pdxtvguy  @rozeguy  @Stephen Nice catch?? Really?? Hardly sounded like a clean kill to me: more like unethical, amoral "fishing" ...punching the animal's head and letting it suffocate in the back of their truck...and taking it off it's eggs.
 @rozeguy  @whirledworld  @Stephen For doing what?  On the orignial discussion board where this post was put up in it's entirety, people claim that this octopus was well known and that it was a "pet" of the divers.  How inhumane of the divers to train this animal to not be afraid of humans when we are one of their predators.  Who's really to blame here?  The guy who went fishing and caught a nice catch? Or the rest of the diving community who regularly made it feel safe?
 @whirledworld  @Stephen Ever go hunting? Not uncommon for the animal to bleed out as it desperately runs away. Hunting, be it a human or any wild predator, is not humane that doesn't make it right or wrong. I think most people are far too removed from the food chain and could learn a healthy respect for life by going out and hunting.
 @Stephen I believe I was unclear in my last statement. I was trying to say that the act of hunting by either man or beast in not humane. There will always be pain and suffering involved that doesn't make it right or wrong. If their intent was cruelty then yes they should be condemned but I can't say that was the case. I've seen many people use a club to euthanize a fish which often looks pretty brutal but it's a far better fate than most trout get when a stringer is put through their gill and thrown back into the water alive.Â
Yes I do hunt.Â
I do not know anybody that hunts humans for food here is the U.S. Or did I miss read your comment.
Wild animals hunt because it is their nature. Please do not put human emotions on wild animals.