Here on Bad Things in History we touch on a wide range of topics including famine,
execution, cannibalism, war… Then there’s this week, and octopus wrestling.
I just don’t know what to say, but here goes. ------------------------------------------
People all over the world and throughout history have enjoyed sporting events.�
Whether they participated directly or simply observed, athletic competition has captured the
attention of humanity for untold generations. If you look at the history of sports, many of the
games are extremely violent and disturbing compared to their modern counterparts. �
For example, the Romans enjoyed gladiatorial combat which would never be allowed today. Some
Mesoamerican tribes even replaced combat with a sporting event and the losers were sacrificed.
Most athletes today don’t have the option of participating in deadly games of the
past. And laws usually prevent them from creating new games that are equally deadly. �
Sometimes they fill the void with new and strange sports that nobody expected or wanted.
Today we are going to look at the strange phenomenon of Octopus Wrestling.
--------------------------------------------- The Octopus
The term octopus refers to over 300 species of mollusks. They are similar in that they have
eight arms, soft bodies, two eyes, and a beak. � The octopus can be found in various parts of the
ocean. They inhabit coral reefs, the open ocean, and some varieties live in the deepest depths.
Most species can also camouflage themselves. Their soft bodies allow them to change shape
and fit into almost any space. Most species of octopus can also change the color of their
bodies to match their surroundings. The lifespan of these animals is usually
short. Some species only live for six months. � The giant Pacific Octopus can live for up to five
years which is exceptionally long for these creatures. Except for the Pacific Octopus,
most members of this family do not survive long after reproducing.
When an octopus is born, it doesn’t receive any education from its parents. Yet they learn fast
and are problem solvers. In captivity it has been possible to train an octopus to navigate a maze. �
Other problem-solving experiments have shown they do have short term and long-term memory.
There are also some claims that an octopus can learn by observation,
which is an uncommon talent in the animal kingdom.� They exhibit play behavior, which is another sign
of advanced cognition. And in the wild they are very smart when it comes to finding food. It isn’t
uncommon for an octopus to board a fishing boat and start eating the crab and fish it finds.
In some cases, scientists have even observed that an octopus can use tools. One specimen
was filmed collecting discarded coconut shells. It used them as a shelter.
In terms of defending itself the octopus doesn’t have many
options. It is a source of food for many animals, so hiding is its primary defense. �
If unable to hide they can release ink which makes it hard for predators to follow. In
extreme conditions they can even detach an appendage to distract a predator.
The fact that most species of octopus are not aggressive is a mostly modern
revelation. Throughout much of history they were considered dangerous.��
The persistent belief that the giant octopus was a vicious and
dangerous animal is the reason why some people thought wrestling one made sense.
Octopus Wrestling Is My Hobby The United States was introduced to the
idea of Octopus Wrestling by an article in the April 1949 edition of Mechanix Illustrated.�
The author related a story of his time in Tahiti. He claimed that he asked the locals
if they knew of a good octopus hunter. It took a week, but finally he found
an eighteen-year-old boy named Roo who was supposedly the best hunter on the island.
They went searching for octopus along the nearby reef. The first octopus
encounter did not resemble wrestling in any meaningful way. The author wrote,
It was difficult to spear the octopus if it were far back in the coral caverns. But Roo had his own
system for drawing the creature out. Retreating a short distance from the lair, he would take up
his flute and play weird tunes upon it the way a Hindu fakir charms a cobra. His piping would soon
attract the octopus from its cavern; first the globular, horned head, then the long tentacles
with their double row of cup-like suckers. Out of curiosity the octopus would approach
within striking distance. In a split second our spears would speed into the revolting mass.
Then, there would be a human-like moan and the water would be clouded with sepia.
The long tentacles would flay the surface of the lagoon in savage fury,
as the monster tried to rid itself of our spears which were firmly embedded in its head.
If necessary, another spear would be dispatched into the writhing hulk. It took a long time to
tire the octopus and we had to hold firmly to the ropes attached to the end of the spears
to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the lagoon where it would be lost to us.
Although it is an interesting tale, it is most likely not true. The largest Giant
Pacific Octopus is around 110 pounds. � If there are giant beasts in the ocean
that rip people into pieces with their tentacles, this species is not among them.
The story of another Octopus encounter later in the article is also questionable.
One day, in the late afternoon, Roo and I discovered a huge monster with 25-foot
tentacles in a coral grotto just below the surface of the lagoon. We let out a cry for
the natives of the village to assist us. This brute was just too big for two men to handle.
With spears, knives and clubs, the entire village arrived to do battle with the giant octopus.
The monster, disturbed by the noise and sensing no escape from its attackers,
lashed out menacingly with its long writhing tentacles.
As quickly as the grisly arms rose above the surface of the lagoon, the natives
slashed them off. In the darkness of the coral cavern, I could see the horrible purplish eyes.
A few final blows of the natives’ spears and knives ended the life of the repulsive monster.
I shall never forget in the last minute of conflict, the moan of fury that the octopus gave
when the spears pierced his horned head. The article might have been fiction.�
But it captured the imagination of people on the west coast of the United States.�
The idea of Octopus Wrestling had been let loose into the minds of bored people everywhere.�
Father of Octopus Wrestling
If you want to wrestle an octopus, first you have to catch one. That isn’t something many
people knew how to do in the 1940s. One man named O’Rourke developed a technique for catching them. �
Nobody remembers his full name, but they know he is one reason octopus wrestling became a sport.
O’Rourke and his business partner developed an octopus fishing business in the early 1940s. �
O’Rourke would be dropped into the water to serve as live bait. When the octopus was wrapped around
him, he would be pulled out of the water. He would then wrestle the octopus into submission.
H. Allen Smith wrote of O’Rourke in 1964: O'Rourke was becoming perhaps the world's
greatest authority on the thought processes and the personality of the octopus.
He knew how to outmaneuver them, to outflank them, and to outthink them.
He knew full well, many years ago, what today's octopus wrestlers are just beginning to learn—that
it is impossible for a man with two arms to apply a full nelson on an octopus;
he knew full well the futility of trying for a crotch hold on an opponent with eight crotches.
A surprising number of people would follow in O’Rourke’s footsteps. The
thrill of wrestling a giant octopus was too tempting for them to ignore.
Wrestling Tournaments Since Octopus Wrestling never gained popularity
outside of the Pacific Northwest, nobody is sure when the first tournament took place. �
But the first well documented wrestling tournament happened near Tacoma, Washington in 1957.
Around two hundred people gathered to watch the contest. A team from Portland, Oregon won when
they captured an eighty-pound octopus. The rules of this wrestling tournament
required divers to go down to the bottom of the ocean and find a giant octopus.�
They would then attempt to drag it from its cave, which is when the wrestling part happened. The
octopus would then be brought back to the beach. It would be weighed and after the tournament was
complete it would either be let go back into the ocean, eaten, or given to an aquarium.
Octopus Wrestling tournaments grew in popularity throughout the late 1950s,
and into the 1960s. At the height of their popularity an event may have five thousand
spectators and well over one hundred divers. Gary Keffler was one of the organizers for
these events. He also worked as a stunt double, filling in for Lloyd Bridges who
played in the television series “Sea Hunt”. Gary said he belonged to a diving club
during that time which held events such as spearfishing competitions. They decided
to try something different. The idea of wrestling an octopus intrigued them.
When a team brought an octopus to the beach, they received one point per pound if they were wearing
scuba gear. If the only equipment worn was a face mask, then the team was given two points per
pound. The idea being that it was more dangerous to wrestle an octopus without an air supply.
Gary Keffler said that his team participated in the sport for three or four
years then moved on to other things. The phenomenon of Octopus Wrestling didn’t last
much longer and mostly ended by the mid-1960s. In 1976 the state of Washington made sure that
there will never be a resurgence of this strange sport. A law was passed which makes
it a crime to capture or harass an octopus. The main benefit to the popularity of Octopus
Wrestling, if there was one, is that more people became familiar with these giant cephalopods. For
the first time the public was able to see a Giant Octopus with their own eyes. And it wasn’t the
fearsome beast described in magazine articles. ------------------------
Octopus Wrestling is probably not coming back anytime soon. The sport really isn’t that
dangerous. Nobody ever died doing it. And watching someone hurt an octopus isn’t fun.
And now that we know how smart they are, it really takes the fun out of torturing them to death.
To be fair, maybe the idea of people wrestling animals just hasn’t been
implemented properly. Bear wrestling, for instance, would be exciting to watch.
What do you think about Octopus Wrestling?� Is it a sport you want to bring back? Or
is it perhaps the stupidest thing ever? Personally, this whole topic just makes me feel
embarrassed and sad to be a human being. If you enjoyed this episode, then press that
like button. And consider subscribing to our channel. We fill our heads with these horrible
stories every week and now nobody loves us. Thank you for watching Bad Things in History.