The giant Pacific octopus is the largest octopus species on the planet. The biggest specimen ever found measured almost 10m long and weighed 272kg – that's as heavy as a male grizzly bear.
Also known as North Pacific giant octopus, these colossal cephalopods live in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan and Korea to Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Back in 2018, a diver was exploring the waters off the coast of Gangwon Province in South Korea, just south of the Korean Demilitarised Zone – a heavily militarised strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula – when they stumbled upon two giant Pacific octopuses.
The sea creatures seemed to be colliding – or perhaps it was something more affectionate than that. Either way, the diver captured the moment the smaller octopus decided it was done with the whole affair, squirting the much larger individual with a cloud of ink.
It's thought that these ocean giants use ink as a defence mechanism when they feel threatened – and it certainly seems to work, as this spectacular footage proves.
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Top image credit: Getty
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