Giant Pacific octopus

Where does the giant pacific octopus live?

Home: Cold coastal waters of the North Pacific Ocean.

In the wild you find it in: United States, Canada, Russia, Japan.

Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.

The short profile

Fully grown it measures Arm span up to 4.3 m. It weighs about 15 kilograms. On the menu: meat.

The story behind it

A giant Pacific octopus has nine brains in total, one central brain and one smaller one in each of its eight arms, which can act semi-independently, tasting and touching objects and even solving simple problems without instructions from the main brain. It has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood, which is more efficient than red blood at carrying oxygen in cold water. Octopuses are masters of disguise, able to instantly change both the colour and texture of their skin to blend into rocks or coral using thousands of tiny pigment cells. Remarkably intelligent, they can open jars, escape enclosures, and have even been observed using coconut shells or discarded objects as tools or shelter. Sadly, a giant Pacific octopus lives for only three to five years, and after mating a female stops eating entirely to guard her eggs until she dies shortly after they hatch.

Find it on the globe

Giant Pacific octopus is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.