A pair of rarely seen rainbow-colored Blanket Octopus was caught on a scuba diver’s camera during a night dive off Romblon Island. The rare sighting was reported by diver Joseph Elayani via Cater News.
The Israeli diver shot the footage during a blackwater dive at Three P Holiday & Dive Resort. Elayani shared the video clip on social media, identifying the stars of his video:
“Two female Blanket octopus surprised us and gave us a rare and unforgettable sight.
Size: 1 meter (with an open blanket about 2 meters)
Depth: 9-22 meters”
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The video shows two blanket octopuses swimming by the camera as they changed into colors of the rainbow. “The rapid colour change is thought to be a reaction to the different light levels from the camera, or as a defence mechanism against would-be predators,” reports Cater News.
The rarity of the sighting is due to the fact that blanket octopuses are always in the open ocean of the Atlantic and the Pacific and so never rest on the seafloor, according to a National Geographic profiling of the blanket octopus.
“Blanket octopuses get their name from sheets of webbing that stretch between some of their arms. When threatened, they stretch their arms out, creating a blanket-like silhouette meant to frighten would-be attackers away,” explains the National Geographic report.
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Female blanket octopus can grow up to 6 feet long while the male can grow to only .9 inches long.
Elayani’s full video of his Romblon diving experience in April 2019 included the Blanket Octopus among many other marine creatures in Philippine waters.
With reports from Angie Quadra Balibay, Ting Vilela.
WATCH Joseph Elayani’s video clip of the Rainbow Blanket Octopus in Romblon and TELL US your own amazing dive experiences in Philippine waters!
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