- [Man in Brown Hat] Mark, got an octopus!
- [Mark] Hold on.
- [Man in Brown Hat] Come up, come up, come up.
- [Mark] I'm trying I'm trying.
- [Man in Brown Hat] It's going right
over this rock, hold on.
Okay, get on, get on this side.
He's right here.
Can you see his tentacles right there?
Look at that.
He's not moving.
Oh, oh, oh, no he is.
Ready?
I'm flipping it back.
Ready?
There it is right there.
There it is.
Look at that.
(dramatic music)
(water splashing)
- As the waves crash down on the West Coast,
an entire world of creatures thrives
beneath the water's surface.
And as long as you arrive at low tide,
you stand a very good chance of encountering some of them.
We're at the peak of low tide and
as you can tell, it's still kind of dark out here.
Only about six o'clock in the morning,
which is the perfect time to search for creatures
because most of them are nocturnal.
Let's head down here to the water line
and see what we can find.
I love exploring the tide pools
because you never know who
you are going to come across.
Yep, there's no question about it,
we are definitely back in tide pool country.
(sniffing)
Ugh, and that is kelp.
And while some species can only be found
far out at sea, the shore line of
San Pedro, California is always
alive with aquatic encounters waiting to happen.
It's just a matter of being in
the right place at the right time.
Check this out.
You know what that is?
Look at it moving.
That is a sea cucumber.
And what's really cool about sea cucumbers
is that they actually breathe through their butts.
Let me see if I can pick him up here.
He's probably going to squirt out water.
Watch this.
Ew, he's gummy.
He's like a big gummy worm.
Oh, look at that, wow.
That is cool looking.
And he's all bumpy and they can
completely change the structure of their body.
See how, oh the spikes are starting to go away.
When he's out of the water, he just
kind of turns into a glob of goo.
He looks like a pickle.
Sea cucumber, not a vegetable, actually an animal.
This ecosystem in incredibly diverse,
from various crab species, to giant black sea slugs.
And there it is.
Can I pick it up?
- You can, it's totally safe.
- And it's not going to ink me?
- Might be a little slimy, but that's it.
- Woah, look at that.
- [Mark] Woah.
- Alright, here we go.
Oh my gosh is it slimy.
Oh, ho ho, look at that slug.
Oh my gosh, it is heavy
I can feel him gripping onto my arm.
I mean I can feel him actually like
wrapping around me.
And while it's rather easy to come
across slugs and crabs, there are also
a handful of creatures that you
must look more closely to find.
Wow, look at that.
This pool is filled with little tiny snails.
It's like a whole society of them living in here.
I feel like a giant right now picking one up.
Look how tiny that guy is.
That is awesome.
The brittle star, navanax, isopod, and sea star
are just a few that look as if
they're from a science fiction novel.
The creation of Beyond the Tide
was heavily influenced by one of my favorite books,
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
As a kid, I often dreamed of encountering
a giant tentacle armed creature.
And while I am not likely to see
any monsters of the deep here in the tide pools,
there is the chance of coming across the next best thing.
That is, if I can catch one.
- [Man in Brown Hat] Mark, got an octopus.
- [Mark] Hold on.
- [Man in Brown Hat] Come up, come up, come up.
It's going right over this rock.
- [Mark] I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying.
Okay, get on this side, it's right here.
Can you see it's tentacles right there?
Look at that.
He's not moving.
Oh, oh, oh, no he is, he is.
Ready?
I'm flipping it back, ready?
There it is right there.
There it is.
Look at that.
Okay, ah, I'm just going to pick it up.
I'm going to pick it up before
it gets underneath the rock.
- [Mark] Yep.
- Look at that!
Yes!
There we go.
That is a two spot octopus right there.
Holy cow does that feel weird.
All those little, all those little
suction cups going over my fingers.
Wow he is suctioned right to me.
Look at that blob.
Alright, hand me the little container.
We gotta get him back in water as quick as we can.
Alright, I'm going to put my hands
down in the water just like this,
and hold him there in position.
Wow is that not look like an alien from another planet.
Look at that.
Okay, I've just got him cradled right in that water there.
Alright, you got an eye on him?
- [Mark] Yup.
- Watch him, I'll fill this up with water.
Hold on a second.
Don't let him get away, Mark.
(slow dramatic music)
You see him, you see him?
- [Mark] His camouflage is incredible.
- That is amazing.
Okay, let's just get a shot of that
while you can see him there.
Camouflaged and look at how he can almost
morph the shape of his body to fit
all of these little plants.
If you didn't know what you were looking at there,
you'd have no idea there was an octopus.
Hold on, this might be a little cavern right here.
I don't want him to get into that.
Alright, I'm going to get him back on my hand.
Hopefully not take a bite.
And into the cube.
Yes!
Yes dude that is our first octopus of Beyond the Tide.
Look at that thing.
Alright, let's get up a little bit of ways
from the edge of the water and
get him in front of the cameras.
This is so cool.
There are no words that can describe
how excited I am right now to have captured an octopus.
Now this is the two spot and the way that I know that
is it has two very distinct blue rings
on the side of it's body.
They almost look like a second set of eyes.
This is used as a defensive tactic against predators.
Let's say something comes in and says,
"Mmm, that looks like something I would eat."
This octopus will puff up it's body
and those blue rings look like big spooky eyes
that will potentially scare off
something that's going to turn him into a meal.
No one really cool feature about the octopus
is it's ability to camouflage with it's environment.
When you see it here inside this clear container,
and it's pretty easy to see, but
when they're out there in the tide pools,
they can actually change the color
of their skin to match the substrate that's around them.
They're also able to completely morph the shape
of their body to fit in between rocks and crevices.
Makes these creatures incredibly difficult to capture.
So when I flipped over that rock and
I saw it, we had to move quick
because it will squeeze right down
into crevices and disappear.
Now the octopus breaks down into two basic parts.
The big pear shape on top, that's called the mantle.
And of course up front, you have these tentacles,
and they're covered in these little tiny suction cups.
They use those suction cups as tactile tools.
It helps them sense their environment
and also helps them taste and smell
what it is that they're looking for
when they're out there hunting.
Now there are two methods that octopus
use to capture their prey.
They will either lie in ambush
waiting for something to come to them,
or they will aggressively pursue
something they want to eat.
And what they do is they wrap
their tentacles around something really quickly,
encompass it, and use their beak to
drill a whole into like, let's say the shell
of a mollusk, inject a toxin, that causes
paralysis, and then they're able to
scoop out the body and eat it.
Now one thing that octopus are famous for
is the fact that they can ink.
And you may be saying to yourself,
"Coyote, how did you catch this
creature and not have it ink all over you?"
Well, I'm not trying to eat the animal,
and I was handling it as gently as possible.
Now when they actually exude that ink
from their body, they don't shoot it out.
They slowly leak it out and then
the siphon on the side of their body
projects a jet stream of water that
(poofing)
creates a cloud allowing them to escape.
That's one cool defensive tactic
to be able to escape your potential predators.
- [Mark] So Coyote, why do we
keep the octopus in a container like that?
- Well because this is an aquatic animal,
it's real important for it to stay in the
water as much as possible.
It is breathing oxygen through the water,
but I can take it out of there,
and I'm sure you guys are thinking to yourselves,
"What does that octopus feel like, Coyote?"
Let me try to coax it out here.
There we go.
Just want to be as gentle as possible.
Got it.
Ahh, look at that.
And it feels like I've just sneezed into my hand
and a giant booger is slinking across my hands.
You don't believe me?
Mark, stick your hand out there
for everybody and tell them,
tell them exactly what that octopus feels like.
- [Mark] Oh wow, it really does feel like a cold booger?
- Doesn't it?
- [Mark] Oh yeah, I can definitely
feel the suction cups too.
- One big suctiony, wiggly booger.
Gross.
It doesn't really smell like anything.
Just like salt water.
Put it back into the container there.
Come here you.
That is one interesting looking creature.
And I'm in complete awe of this animal right now.
Now this is considered to be one of the
friendliest species of octopuses in the world.
I don't know how you really gauge
an octopus being friendly, but
this is one species that is very
commonly found in the pet trade.
Primarily because of their docile nature
and the fact that they stay small.
Now, here's something that's pretty cool.
You may be thinking to yourself,
"Is that a male or a female?"
honestly, I do not know.
But female octopuses are incredibly amazing mothers.
They can lay up to 70,000 eggs at a time
and when they do lay their eggs,
they sit there and protect them
for as long as it takes for the babies to hatch.
Now sadly a lot of times, the mothers
end up passing away because they exhaust
themselves through starvation, but
the positive is that nearly 70,000
baby octopuses can then head back
off into the ocean to continue the life cycle.
- [Mark] I do have a question.
So I keep hearing you say octopuses.
Isn't it octopi?
- No, that is one common misconception.
Now it is acceptable to say octopi,
but the technical term for plural octopus is octopuses.
Little interesting fact that maybe you didn't know.
Well at this point, I can see
the tide coming back in over my shoulder,
which means it's time to get this octopus
back out into the ocean.
I'm Coyote Peterson and be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
In my opinion, the octopus is one
of the most iconic ocean creatures,
and they can be found in tide pools across the world.
If you are out exploring, there's
a good chance you will encounter one.
However, be aware that all octopus species
are venomous and some can be incredibly toxic to humans;
therefor, if you see an octopus in the wild,
it's always best to admire the animal
in it's natural setting.
As long as you don't try to handle it,
you are guaranteed to have a safe encounter.
If you enjoyed this episode of Beyond the Tide,
make sure to go back and watch
as I got slimed by the world's largest slug species,
the black sea hare and don't forget,
subscribe to the Brave Wilderness channel
so you can join me and the crew on our next big adventure.
I can feel him gripping onto my arm.
I mean I can feel him actually wrapping around me.
He can't bite, right?
- [Mark] No, these guys are vegetarians.
They mostly eat algae and kelp.