The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Athena’s replacement at the aquarium is a young octopus named Octavia. At Montgomery’s first visit, she brings along a friend, and at first Octavia doesn’t want anything to do with either of them—or with the food that Wilson offers her—so they leave her alone for a while. When they return, Octavia stretches out one arm toward the squid Wilson dangles before her. Wanting her friend to experience the touch, Montgomery has her reach toward the octopus as well. Human finger touches octopus arm, and both pull back instantly. Montgomery wonders why, surmising that Octavia might have tasted nicotine in the skin of her friend, a longtime smoker.

The second visit starts out equally unsuccessful, with Montgomery failing to coax Octavia from across the tank. Montgomery and Scott instead wander to another tank to look at the electric eel. The aquarium had set up a voltmeter above the tank that picked up the electric charge when the eel was hunting or stunning its victims, lighting up an attached bulb. Although the eel is asleep, the light was flashing. They realize that the eel is dreaming of hunting and thus sending out electricity. Montgomery notes that she is witnessing the inner workings of the mind of another creature.

They return to the octopus tank, where Montgomery finally gets to interact with Octavia, who grabs both of Montgomery’s arms. The octopus doesn’t allow Montgomery to touch her, keeping her at arm’s length as if sizing her up. Montgomery notices how much Octavia has grown since her first visit. Octopuses are fast growers in their relatively short lives (usually about four years), after hatching from eggs the size of a grain of rice. Octavia also latches onto a pair of tongs Scott uses to feed her, and it takes the full strength of both people pulling up to prevent Octavia from dragging Montgomery into the tank. Finally, she lets go and Montgomery is left to ponder what the interaction meant.

A week later, Montgomery is back with a radio crew to record a program on octopus intelligence. This time, Octavia is inquisitive and rushes over to greet them. She readily accepts fish from Bill with one arm, as other arms interact with Wilson’s, Montgomery’s, and the radio host’s hands. Excited by what is happening, none of the six people present notice at first when yet another of Octavia’s arms takes away the bucket of fish. She doesn’t eat the fish—just holds the bucket, curiously exploring it. The radio host marvels at her intelligence. Montgomery visits Octavia once more before leaving on an extended book tour. She returns to the news that the octopus is aging and not acting her usual self. A visit confirms this: She’s pale, touches Montgomery’s arm weakly, and looks as if parts of her skin are decaying. Though saddened by this, Montgomery is excited to learn the aquarium has acquired a new baby octopus.