Octopus Encounters

Octopus Encounters is a photographic record of our diving experiences with octopus. The reward of immersing oneself in the sea is the opening of a window to a natural history world. An aperture that parades life that stuns with its beauty, behaviour that stimulates more questions than answers and animals that engage with us clumsy human intruders. So, a blue-blooded sentient creature with nine brains, three hearts, the ability to solve puzzles and recognise individual humans fits right in with that enriching experience. Pam first started spending more time and observing behaviour of the day octopus, algae octopus and blue-ringed octopus on the reefs of Sulawesi. Then along came Covid and confinement to our local reefs in Western Australia where there is a good representation of octopus on our rocky reefs. Netflix added 'My Octopus Teacher' building on our respect and fascination with these masters of camouflage and intrigue. This book represents a collection of our octopus images and our attempt to decipher the behaviour we have observed. We have covered octopus anatomy, hunting, feeding, sex, and habitat. Six species photographed in Western Australia and the Coral Triangle are detailed with specific chapters. Pam and Wayne's photographic books have been downloaded in 41 countries.