Hidden talent

  

Eric was doing some field work tonight (17 January 2026), but on the side he ended up with several great shots of an intriguing Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens).  

Above, note how well the octopus blends in with the background, matching the surrounding colors and textures. 

Below, a closer view from the side next to the sea anemone:

 

 

 

And a zoomed in view, highlighting that beautiful eye:

 

 

 

 

When the octopus changed position, it changed color and texture, this time matching some of the surrounding seaweeds and nearby animals.  And check out how it matched the color of the sponge in the upper right corner of the photo — the suckers are the same deep orange color as the sponge!

 

 

 

P.S.  With thanks to the octopus and to Eric for the great photos! 

Shuttle service

 

 

We were working along the Bodega Harbor shoreline a couple of days ago when I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye.  

Octopus!  

It was very high above the waterline, so Eric decided to pick it up and help it get closer to the water.

Two more views, including a close-up of the eye: 

 

I know most of 2026 is the Year of the Horse, but wouldn't it be fun if there was a Year of the Octopus?

 

Tripping the light fantastic

  

During a walk at Dillon Beach on 27 December 2025, we came across several large masses of egg capsules.

Here's a photo in Eric's hand for scale: 

 

 

These are egg capsules of the Opalescent Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis opalescens).  When you look at the capsules up close, if the embryos are far enough along in their development, you can see tiny squid inside.  Look especially for the two large eyes.  Each compartment holds one squid (so an individual egg capsule can hold 50 or more developing embryos):

 

 

 

Development time is dependent on water temperature, but it can take 6-10 weeks for the little squid to hatch out in cooler temperatures. 

 

One of the egg capsules (above) appeared to have mature squid larvae that looked like they'd be ready to hatch soon.  We put the capsule into a large ziploc bag with seawater and what do you know, about an hour later, tiny (~3 mm long) squid larvae had emerged from the capsule and were swimming around.

 

Eric was able to capture some amazing video of the squid larvae and their beautiful chromatophores under a microscope (see below).  [If you can't see the video player in your e-mail, click on the title of this post above to go directly to the NHBH website to watch the video.]  It's fascinating to see the pulsing chromatophores in action.

 

We thought you might enjoy a little light show to ring in the New Year!

 

Best wishes for 2026! 

 

P.S.  For more information about how chromatophores work in squid and octopus, check out this "Hide and seek" video that Eric made in 2021.

 

Curiosity

  

Eye of an octopus 

Are you interested in the diversity of local marine invertebrates?  

If so, Eric is going to be giving a talk in the Science Uncorked series on Wednesday, October 1.

Come hear about "Spineless wonders: Exploring the tidepool animals of Bodega Bay" at Gourmet Au Bay in Bodega Bay at 6 p.m.

More info is available here.

Breathe in, breathe out

  

An unexpected surprise this morning (11 July 2025), a beautiful octopus in the low intertidal zone.  I only had a minute or two before it continued on, but it was a magical minute!

I managed a short video clip (see below, or click on the title of the post above to go to the NHBH web page to see the video player).  The octopus is drawing water into its mantle cavity (where it will then pass over the gills) and expelling water through its siphon.

Many thanks to Eric for editing the video clip!

Special find

  

Summer classes started at the Bodega Marine Laboratory this week, and with all of those keen eyes around, special things are bound to be found!  

Above, a small Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) discovered this morning.

Thanks to James for spotting the octopus, which was observed for a short time in the field and then released. 

Cephalopod break

  

We got lucky tonight -- we were busy doing surveys, but we heard someone nearby exclaim, "Octopus!"  So we took a short break and walked over to see this beautiful Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens).  

Love the green highlights!

And I'm always drawn to the spiraled arm tips and suckers.  So cool!

 

 

P.S.  Many thanks to the tidepoolers who alerted us to this octopus! 

Honu and he’e

Honu, or Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) photographed while snorkeling in Kaua’i on 1 April 2024.

Not only did Eric get lucky with a sea turtle today, he also photographed a beautiful he’e, or an octopus.  We’re not 100% sure, but it might be he’e mauli, or a Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea). Here’s a broad view showing the he’e under a ledge and an amazing close-up, highlighting the eye and the siphon:

With many thanks to honu and he’e, and to Eric for sharing such great photos!

Cephalopod surprise

  

We had to work late in the field tonight (time and tide wait for no one!), but we had a brief reward with an octopus sighting!  

P.S.  Thanks to the folks who spotted the octopus and to Eric for getting a photo!

Octopus for lunch?

  

Octopus for lunch?  

A Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) feeding on a Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) washed up on the beach on 25 April 2023.

Blue highlights

  

How lucky!  Eric found an octopus for my birthday!

Here's the entire animal from the other side.  Always amazing to see how well they blend in with the surrounding rocks and algae:

 

 

Surprise cephalopod

  

Yesterday (8 March 2021), Eric and I had to make a brief stop in Bodega Harbor (to look for a ribbon worm).  A family was nearby exploring the shoreline not too far away from us.  We could hear them talking about finding different animals like clams, snails, and sea squirts.  And then we heard one of them exclaim, "Octopus!"  

We paused our ribbon worm search and said a brief hello to the octopus that was walking across the mudflats and eelgrass towards the water.  We didn't expect to see an octopus that day, but were lucky when some fellow coastal adventurers spotted this wonderful cephalopod!

Octopus as teacher

  

Recently, Paul passed along a movie recommendation.  I was so taken by the movie, that I'm passing along the recommendation to you!

If you haven't seen it yet, or if you'd like to see it again (because it's that good), check out "My Octopus Teacher."  [It's available online via Netflix.]

Captivating capsules

  

We came across several squid egg capsules washed up on the beach yesterday (3 October 2020).

These elongate gelatinous capsules contain lots of developing embryos (somewhere between ~50-300, depending on the capsule), each within their own compartment.  It's somewhat similar to a beehive, so if you look carefully at the photo above, you can see that the capsule contains many roughly hexagonal-shaped areas and each one of those has a tiny squid embryo.  (The squid larvae are ~3 mm when they hatch.)

Here's a closer view:

 

 

Above you can see several embryos, each with two bright red eye spots, a relatively short body section behind the eyes, and a drawn out teardrop-shaped yolk.

When you zoom in even further, you'll notice small chromatophores (pigment spots) on the mantle/main body section!

 

 

The time it takes for the embryos to develop is dependent on water temperature.  In our area it might take ~45-75 days (faster development in warmer water) before the tiny squid larvae are ready to hatch and swim away from the capsule.

P.S.  If you'd like to see squid embryo chromatophores in action, I posted a short video clip back in 2014 — scroll down to the bottom of the post called "Be dazzled!" on 8 October 2014.

No octopus here

Okay, there's more to yesterday's octopus story.  After Eric spotted the first octopus, a few minutes later I looked down and noticed a second one!  The first octopus was fairly large for a Red Octopus, but the second one was quite small — only ~2.5 cm across (with its arms pulled in).

Spread out on a cobble:

 

Among shells and stones:

 

 

Pretending to be a snail.  The octopus tucked in its arms, then crawled (slowly) across the rock, as if to say, "Nothing to see here...only a snail gliding along...no octopus in sight.  (Wink!)"

 

Gr-eight-ful

After some field work this morning, Eric joined me at a different site, and no joke, within a minute he said, "Octopus!"  We hadn't seen an octopus since 2018, so we were excited to see one.  Below are several of my favorite shots from today (25 June 2020).  [You can click on the pictures for larger versions.]

Stretching out:

 

"Eye" see you (check out the beautiful chromatophores!):

 

Blending in (with coralline algae):

 

Tentacle spiral:

 

Suckers up-close (and once again, check out the amazing chromatophores just below the pink suckers — they look like freckles in this photo): 

 

We are feeling very grateful for a few moments with a Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) this morning.

For 02/02/2020

Some sets of two for tomorrow's very special date — 02/02/2020.

 

Two Common Ravens (Corvus corvax)

 

Two Tolmie's Star Tulips (Calochortus tolmiei)

 

Two River Otters (Lontra canadensis) 

 

Two Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) paralarvae 

Happy 2020 palindrome day!

For 8/8

 

A small Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens), for 8/8!  This one was photographed back in February 2017.

 

Let's go!

Okay, I can't help it, I have to help the home team celebrate.  Here's a photo for the 2018 World Series Champions — the Boston Red Sox!  

A red octopus with eight arms for a championship won on 28 October 2018. The Red Sox had 108 wins in the regular season.  And note that retired Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski (#8) threw out the first pitch in Boston to start the 2018 series.

Yeah, Boston!  Let's go!

8 on the 8th

For everyone with an 8/8 birthday!

Close-up of an octopus eye:

 

And below is a short video clip that Eric took of the same octopus.  Watch for the following: a close-up of the octopus; then the octopus cleans its siphon with a tentacle (the siphon is a muscular tube that draws water into the mantle cavity for breathing); after that the octopus notices a crab nearby and then it jets across the tank and quickly envelops the crab with its eight tentacles and the webbing between the tentacles.  Throughout the video, watch for the flashing chromatophores (pigment cells) and striking color changes of this octopus!

Bodega Bay Octopus from Jackie Sones on Vimeo.

Note: We're not totally sure about the identity of this octopus.  We think it might be a juvenile Pacific Giant Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini).