Video Of Giant Octopus Rolled Up By Fishing Boat Terrifies Viewers

Footage of a giant octopus being pulled out of the ocean by a fishing boat left viewers stunned.

Photographer Brooke Sattar shared the dramatic video on TikTok under the brookesirah handle where it has already been viewed over 41 million times.

It was filmed during a fishing expedition off Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Writing alongside the clip, Sattar said, “Today’s take caught us!” adding that the octopus was among the “coolest” natural sights she had ever encountered.

The clip shows an orange octopus with its long tentacles spread over a fishing trap that is slowly being pulled out of the ocean.

A woman can be heard in the 23-second video exclaiming, “You’re kidding! It’s so huge” as the trap and octopus reach the surface. We then hear a man declare “it’s a big octopus”.

The octopus, for its part, shows no signs of letting go of the fishing trap, although Sattar said in the accompanying caption that although it “held on for a bit”, it eventually “let go and come back down. swimming”.

The octopus featured in the video fits the description of the giant northern Pacific octopus or giant Pacific octopus, which is common in the temperate waters of the northern Pacific off British Columbia.

According to National geographicthe giant Pacific octopus “grows and lives longer than any other octopus species”.

“The size record is held by a specimen that was 30 feet wide and weighed over 600 pounds.”

The giant Pacific octopus lives for about four years and dies soon after breeding.

They hunt at night, feeding on shrimp, clams, lobsters, and fish, which might explain why this particular octopus was found clinging to the fishing trap of Sattar and his friends.

However, National geographic notes that they “have been known to attack and eat sharks as well as birds, using their sharp, beak-like mouths to pierce and tear flesh”.

Speaking to Global News in Canada, Sattar said the trap was set with the intention of catching prawns.

Instead, it attracted what she described as a “big octopus”. After spotting it, without thinking for a second, she pulled out her phone and started recording.

“He held on for two or three minutes, it wasn’t long at all, and then he just let go and swam away,” she told the news provider.

Sattar told Global News that time seemed to slow down during the encounter.

“It wasn’t three minutes long, but then I looked at my video and I thought ‘oh, that was just a 20 second video,'” she said.

While the octopus’ appearance may have been fleeting, she was just happy to film it.

“It’s pretty awesome to have been able to share this experience with so many people around the world because you don’t see it every day,” she said. “I love underwater life, so I was very excited and surprised.”

His followers on TikTok were certainly grateful, if a bit terrified.

“That’s kinda scary,” one wrote with another stating, “the kraken is real then,” referring to the legendary sea monster of the same name.

A third onlooker said, “That would scare me more than a shark.”

A fourth added: “That’s why I don’t do scuba diving as a hobby.”

Newsweek contacted Sattar for comment.