Attack of the Giant Octopus!

We now know that the Giant Squid was not just a legend, but actually does exist. So what else is lurking in the deep? Did you know throughout history there have been reports of giant octopus? Not only is there a long history of reports, but a lot of those reports involve the creature attacking humans!                                           

“‘Suddenly, the waters began to bub­ ble;said survivor Agapito Caballero.’Then with the use of flashlights, we saw some­ thing that looked like a giant octopus. It was as huge as an imported cow.’

“Caballero’s brother, Alfredo, whose baby boy died, said the octopus grabbed the vessel’s pontoons and overturned it. But the octopus submerged after the attack and did not harm them, he added” [San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 1989].

The Manticao octopus could have come from the Marianas Trench, which ex­ ceeds 36,000 feet. The Philippine Trench is nearly as deep, at 34,650 feet below sea­ level. Nobody knows what lives in deep trench regions.

There are actually quite a few accounts of large or giant octopi attacking men and/or their ships. In Richard Ellis’ Mon­ sters of the Sea (1994), Dr. Thomas Beale, surgeon on the British whaler Kent in 1831-32, recounts his encounter with a large octopus while ashore in the Bonin Is­ lands (south of Japan). This octopus was on the beach near some rocks when he ap­proached it. Dr. Beale placed his foot upon the mollusk, whereupon the octopus grabbed Dr. Beale’s arm and the tug of war ensued. The captain of the Kent, also looking for shells on the beach, came to Dr. Beale’s rescue, and soon dispatched the huge octopus with a knife. Dr. Beale was the aggressor; the octopus was only de­fending itself, especially since it was beached. Victor Hugo’s Toilers of the Sea (1866) comes to mind, with the heroic Gilliat fighting a mighty octopus to the death in a cave.

To read all kinds of information and stories about these hidden sea monsters, click here.