I saw this article (along with video footage) on CNN and was wondering if there is a “right” answer here? Is it harmful to intervene? My first reaction would be to try to help the eagle as well, as long as I could do it without hurting either animal or endangering myself.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/12/americas/bald-eagle-octopus-trnd/index.html
I only interfere when it is human caused injuries or problems - like an animal with a jar on its head. Octopus need to eat just like any other animal. Humans tend to make decisions about animals based on which we like and which we don’t or which is cute or noble in our opinion.
I was really curious whether the octopus would actually be able to eat an eagle, even if it killed it. Is that the sort of thing an octopus could eat? If so, it doesn’t seem worth intervening at all. If they were just locked in a death grip and both going to die or something, i could see more an argument for it, though since it was apparently a natural interaction and someone was going to eat there, i could also see an argument to leave them alone.
A giant Pacific octopus like the one in the video could totally eat a bald eagle. They regularly eat fish bigger than that.
Actually, I think the octopus is beautiful too, but I understand your point. Thanks for the insight.
Giant Pacific octopuses eat birds more frequently than you might expect, too. It made the news a number of years ago when a smaller octopus (same species) caught and ate a seagull.
My reaction would be that the octopus earned its meal, and not to interfere. I’m interested to know how this could happen in the first place? Did the octopus use itself as bait? Do BEs swim a lot?
I wondered that myself. I can see how a seagull and octopus might cross paths, but the eagle seems less likely. It had to have been searching for fish as well, right?
But don’t they grab fish out of the water while in flight? There is some footage of them swimming/floating but that seems to be the exception not the norm. I wonder if it had tried to grab the octopus?
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