Close up and personal with a Day Octopus

Subject: Close up and personal with a Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea). The octopus’ eye with its split-like pupils, work in a different way than the eye of a human. Man’s eye focuses by changing the thickness of the lens inside the eye where the octopus moves the lens in and forward, a bit like a lens in a camera. Octopuses have excellent eyesight, comparable to ours. Breathing happens through gills in cavities situated on both sides of their body. Expired water is channeled through a funnel.

Technique: To get so close isn’t that difficult, it just takes time. The time you need to build confidence so that when you get close, real close, the animal doesn’t flee. Show the animal that you’re not a threat, avoid sudden movements and increase the power of your lights gradually so you do not immediately bombard the animal with a blinding light beam.

Day Octopus I

Subject: The high intelligence of the Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) can be compared to the intelligence of a dog. This octopus species is very active during the day, hence its name. The individual in this shot extends its arm to investigate our video lamp.

Technique: Interactions with marine life are always full of surprises. Most of the time it is better to just let the animal do its thing… it usually delivers nice and interesting footage and creates a little bond of confidence between the animal and the photo-/videographer, which can result in a cooperative critter.

Decoy Scorpionfish I

Subject: Decoy Scorpionfish. Curiosity kills. The dorsal fin of the little Decoy Scorpionfish (Iracundus signifier) is adorned with an ocellated eyespot. This smart predator extends and wiggles this decorated fin and the two first separated spines in a way that resembles a small swimming fish. This mimicry is used to lure in curious predators that are out to grab an easy snack, only to become a meal themselves.

Technique: To accentuate the wiggling of the dorsal fin, a matching sound effect was added to this clip. Sounds (and music) are extremely important to video, sometimes a sound can insinuate things that are not visible in the clip