The Blooming Octopus has been named the animal of the year by the Wildlife Trusts following a record year of common octopus found in British waters this year.
An unprecedented numbers of elusive cephalopod, aka the Common Octopus, has been found in the south coast of England, putting on rarely-seen displays in shallow waters.
The cephalopod is usually found further south in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean, but they have been recorded in large numbers, often referred to as a bloom, in the UK before. But this year’s surge was the biggest in more than half a century. The last time there was this many was in 1950.
Since 2023, there’s been a staggering 1,500 per cent increase in numbers and footage underwater has captured the creatures ‘walking’, cleaning themselves and mating, and one attempted even to mate with an underwater camera.
Why is this growth happening and is it all good news? Well, no. Check out our The Critterfiles Substack newsletter Sunday for the reasons why this may be a cause for alarm.
