Releasing a giant pacific octopus 'The Dude'

[Youngster Dan]

Hi everyone, I tend to lurk more than anything but I thought this was worth sharing. It is a video of me and some friends releasing "The Dude" -- the best giant pacific octopus in the world.

Him and I have had an incredible time together, and it is sad to see an empty tank now. He has been extremely social, gregarious and all round great octopus.

He will be missed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V57Dfn_F69c&feature=youtu.be

Later Dude.

[shaggy]

Very cool...

[AquaticEngineer]

Do you catch your own? I have one right now that I caught no bigger than a silver dollar, so I estimated it to be about 2 months out of the egg at most when I got him. He's now about 12" tip to tip and about 9 months old.

[Youngster Dan]

Very cool...

Thank you :)

Do you catch your own? I have one right now that I caught no bigger than a silver dollar, so I estimated it to be about 2 months out of the egg at most when I got him. He's now about 12" tip to tip and about 9 months old.

Yeah we just caught another one. I saw your post with your little guy, super cute.

[sponger0]

Thats awesome. So did you catch this one when it was little?

[Youngster Dan]

Thats awesome. So did you catch this one when it was little?

Yup, we caught him when he was around 9 lbs. When we released him he was over 50 lbs. They grow fast, that's for sure!

[sponger0]

Thats awesome.......

[Hoosierfan]

How long did you have him? Do they grow fast?

[Jeremy Blaze]

So why are you guys catching them, growing them in captivity and re releaseing them?

[Youngster Dan]

How long did you have him? Do they grow fast?

We had him for approximately 7 months. Yes - they grow very fast. I have heard that they are the most efficient carnivore at converting food into body mass. They live only around 3-5 years old and can reach up to 100lbs.

So why are you guys catching them, growing them in captivity and re releaseing them?

They are caught to be displayed in a public aquarium. I feel like our exhibit is too small for a larger octopus, and we also want to avoid having an animal that is senescent. Hence - why we release them.

I understand that there are issues surrounding the release of captive animals back into the wild. That said, the Ocean Discovery Center only houses local species so there is limited chance of introduced pathogens etc upon release. I think this topic certainly warrants discussion however.

[loismustdie0692]

Wow!! Awesome!!

[rs30]

Thank 4 that made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KrissiIZme]

Awesome video! And I think the negative comments come from an uniformed person who means well. I have found that people will question almost anything that others do, especially when they don't understand or know enough about it. Shrug, there are far worse things happening to the environment than releasing an Octopus.

[Youngster Dan]

Wow!! Awesome!!

Thanks :)

Thank 4 that made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It made my day too, that's for sure. Thank you :)

Awesome video! And I think the negative comments come from an uniformed person who means well. I have found that people will question almost anything that others do, especially when they don't understand or know enough about it. Shrug, there are far worse things happening to the environment than releasing an Octopus.

Thank you. Criticism is good, keeps you honest and makes sure you are on your toes!

[thewire]

i thought law prohibit releasing native species after been in capacity?

[Youngster Dan]

i thought law prohibit releasing native species after been in capacity?

We have to get a permit from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans first. As a part of this permit our vet has to check on the health of our GPO so that we aren't releasing sick animals.

[havoc79]

very cool video the dude is awesome sorry you had to lose your bud but now he can find a octopus and make more dudes for ya ha

[deangelr]

Can GPOs be bred in captivity?

[Youngster Dan]

very cool video the dude is awesome sorry you had to lose your bud but now he can find a octopus and make more dudes for ya ha

Yeah, I still miss him - he was the best. Our current GPO is also pretty personable, not quite as active but he is getting better.

Can GPOs be bred in captivity?

I haven't heard of anyone successfully breading them. Once hatched, baby GPOs are planktonic which for a host of reasons makes it very difficult to rear and have them survive for any length of time.

I believe there has been considerably more success with other species of octopus that have larger eggs which hatch into benthic babies.

[AquaticEngineer]

I got 2 more baby GPO's about a week ago :) One went to a guy in CA but I still have the other little guy. He's about silver dollar size and eating crabs like crazy :)

[bugs713]

Cool video!
You should post pictures and video more often, obviously a lot of people here interested in what you are doing and pics and video would be cool!
:thumbsup:

[Youngster Dan]

I got 2 more baby GPO's about a week ago :) One went to a guy in CA but I still have the other little guy. He's about silver dollar size and eating crabs like crazy :)

Nice! :)

Cool video!
You should post pictures and video more often, obviously a lot of people here interested in what you are doing and pics and video would be cool!
:thumbsup:

Sounds good to me! I just snapped some video of me playing with our GPO. I will post it up later tonight.

[Lwhite]

Very Cool. Thanks for Sharing

[Youngster Dan]

I took a video playing with our current octopus. His name is Steve, and he is pretty cool too. :)

http://youtu.be/C86MZjodmiQ

[bugs713]

Awesome, thanks!
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[Sprokus]

Huge