The red octopus at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center was added to the exhibit last March, just a few weeks before opening weekend. My boss was somewhat disappointed that it was a red octopus and not a GPO, but I had high hopes, having photographed many wandering red octos in the greater Puget Sound area. And she was a wonderful exhibit animal - hungry, curious, and personable. I said good morning to her each day and bid her farewell every time I walked out.
Unknown to us, she had already had an encounter with a male. About a month before my position ended (early August) she laid her eggs. I feared they weren't fertile, since I doubted an animal could store sperm as long as she did (at least five months!).
The eggs began to eye up a month or two after I left. They hatched on Saturday.
- Babies!
Life is amazing. There's a video on the PTMSC Facebook page as well, which shows the octopus blowing the babies out of the den with her siphon. I'm sad I did not get to be there, but happy the internet provides such nice alternatives!
