World Octopus Day: Dive into the Wonders of Cephalopod Intelligence

World Octopus Day History
Facts about Octopus
Bonus Facts
Importance
Octopus Day related Holidays
Timeline
Statistics that Matter
How to Celebrate Octopus Day?
Domestication and Care
World Octopus Day Dates
FAQs

Octopus is an ocean animal with 8 legs (with suction cups) and 3 hearts, being one of the strangest creatures on our planet. They are very intelligent and flexible creature that exist from the time of dinosaurs. In order to appreciate their existence and their beauty, world octopus day is celebrated annually on 8th October.

World Octopus Day History

Since octopus are very unique ocean creatures on our planet, we celebrate their presence in our lives every year. According to findings, octopus day was made in 2006 to celebrate the unique appearance and beauty of octopus by “The Octopus News Magazine Online (TONMO)”. However, October 8, 2007 was the 1st tribute given to the octopus to acknowledge their biological diversity.

Facts about Octopus

Common Name

Scientific Name

Number of Species

Lifespan

Weight

Length

Top Speed

Predator

Prey

Most Distinctive Feature

Octopus

Octopus vulgaris

300 +

1 – 5 years

3 – 10 kg

4.3 ft

25 mph

Moray eels, fish, seals, sperm whales, sea otters

Crabs, clams, snails, small fishes

Flexible, Camouflaging

Bonus Facts

The blood of octopus is blue colored due to copper in the protein hemocyanin
Octopus is able to regrow its arm if lost
The biggest octopus in the world had 33 ft arm and 600 lbs weight

Importance

Octopus day aims to spread mindfulness among the people about the species of octopus, and their life. This day promotes the idea of conserving these beautiful sea animals. Efforts regarding their conservation are also made on this day to promote their well-being. On the related note, got the scoop of giant Pacific octopus?

Octopus Day related Holidays

World Oceans Day: June 8^th
Cephalopod Awareness Days: October 8 – 12^th
International Coastal Cleanup Day: 3^rd Saturday in September

Timeline

1856

Reproduction system

Japetus Steenstrup found that hectocotylus arm of octopus is responsible for sperm transfer.

1993

Protection of octopus

A law was passed by the United Kingdom to save and protect the octopus.

2016

Ghost like octopus

An octopus like a ghost got captured by the Okeanos Explorer at 14,000 ft below ocean’s surface.

2017

A special arm

A German robot company created a special arm with a soft, balloon-like hand (made of silicone) to hold things.

Statistics that Matter

Unlike other animals, octopuses have 3 hearts
Word “octopus” comes from the Greek word, októpus, meaning “8 foot”
An octopus has around 130 million neurons
Octopuses have 8 arms, not tentacles

How to Celebrate Octopus Day?

Explore octopuses

Exploring about octopuses and their life can be a perfect way to celebrate the octopus day. You can visit a local aquarium to see live octopuses. Discover about their different species and their specialties.

Make crafts

Make some crafts similar to octopus or draw octopus paintings. You can use different kind of stuff like paper, or tissues to make an octopus sample. Show you artistic skills to celebrate the delightful occasion of world octopus day.

Spread awareness

Educate people about the life of octopuses and share the most interesting and fun facts about octopuses with people. Aware people that can we contribute to protect them or improve their lives.

Domestication and Care

Octopuses are very unique and distinct ocean creature that has very complex behavior, and unique physiology. Maintaining their specific environmental requirements can be really a tough task. They are not grown to be domesticated or any companionship, in fact, they’ve never been domesticated.

World Octopus Day Dates

Year	Date	Day
2024	October 8	Tuesday
2025	October 8	Wednesday
2026	October 8	Thursday
2027	October 8	Friday
2028	October 8	Sunday

World Elephant Day Dates (theinfox.com)

FAQs

The biggest consumers of octopus are: 1. Korea 2. Japan 3. Mediterranean countries

Octopuses are usually not human-friendly like the domesticated pets (dogs or cats). They are the wild animals with unique behaviors, and variable way of their interactions with humans.

Yes, it is true. Octopus are known for “semelparity”, which is a process due to which they can just reproduce only once in their whole life. In their short lifespan, male octopus transfer the sperm to female by a specialized arm (hectocotylus). Since, it is an energy taking process, male partner is left with no more energy.