Title:

Soul of the Octopus

Author:

Sy Montgomery

Category:

Non-Fiction

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

November 12, 2023
recently learned that octopuses (from this book, I learned that the plural for octopus is octopuses, and not octopi. Only if a word is of Latin origin does one add the letter i to make it a plural. I guess this means that cactus is a word of Latin origin? Quick update: I just did a quick web search and found that both octopi and octopuses are acceptable forms of the plural, and so is octopods!) are quite intelligent, so my interest was piqued and I checked Montgomery's The Soul of the Octopus out from the library. I was hoping to discover many amazing facts and ancedotes of octopus behavior and intelligence, and there is indeed some fascinating material in these pages. But I was frustrated by this book because too much material is only tangentially related to octopuses. Montgomery inserts herself into the Soul of the Octopus so the the book reads like a journal of her own octopus enthusiasm. For example, there is one chapter describing Montgomery's learning to scuba dive so that she can see octopuses in their native environment - we read all about the pain in her ear and the challenges of scuba, and how she gets ill but doesn't want to miss the night dive, and we read how euphoric Montgomery feels swimming in the ocean - and, oh yes, an octopus is mentioned in that chapter when she spots one on the ocean floor.

I didn't want to read about the various keepers and volunteers at the Boston and Seattle aquariums that Montgomery frequently visited (sorry Wilson and Ana and Marion an the rest - I am just not interested in your personal lives.) Montgomery does describe how vulnerable octopus are to predators, which is why they have defensive strategies of camouflage, squirting ink, and high intelligence to assess threats. I loved reading about the octopus who carried half a coconut shell along with it, so it curl up inside and be hidden on the ocean floor when danger threatened.

Montgomery briefly describes some intelligence testing - octopuses love crabs, so the researchers place some crabs in clear, nested boxes, with a different puzzle solution required to open each box. Why couldn't Montgomery have given us an entire chapter on these type of tests?

I was impressed to discover that octopuses will sometimes crawl up on land to hunt in tide pools. We learn that an octopus can live for 15 minutes out of water - but how they do this is not explained. Obviously, an octopus has no lungs, so how can they breathe out of the water? Montgomery tells us that the octopus will die when it dries out, but does not tell us how it can survive on land.

Aquarium owners struggle to keep the curious octopuses in their tanks. Octopuses are curious and clever, and so are always trying to escape from their tanks. Because octopuses having no bones, even a large octopus can squeeze through tiny holes - the only solid part of an octopus is their beak. At aquariums, octopuses have been known to escape from their exhibit and raid the fish in a nearby tank.

Montgomery tells us about her visits with various octopuses. The keepers will open the lid to a tank and the octopus will rise to the surface and entwine its tentacles around the human's arms. Octopuses are quite strong, and could yank a human into the water, but they are just exploring their visitors with their suckers as if they are curious and friendly. Montgomery tells us how exciting it is to commune this way with an octopus, standing beside a tank with arms and tentacles linked, sometimes for an hour. Octopuses liked to be stroked along the top of their mantle, and will change color to indicate their mood. Unfortunately, Montgomery keeps telling us about these encounters, and with the all various octopuses she meets - Kali, Octavia, Karma, etc. The book keeps documenting her time touching these creatures. At first, it was intriguing. But the repetition of reading about visit after visit became tiresome.

The reader learns that once an octopus lays eggs, it will guard them without eating, until it perishes and the next generation is born. Only a few of the thousands of eggs will mature into an adult octopus. Montgomery describes how captive Octavia lays eggs, but since no males are present, the eggs are unfertilized. Reproducing is the last act in short life of an octopus (Octopuses will only live a few years, which makes their remarkable intelligence more impressive - they must be fast learners.) Octavia tends to her eggs which will never hatch, and Montgomery gives us update after update about Octavia's slow slide into certain death.

One story that I couldn't believe was that of Marion, who joins the aquarium. Marion fearlessly enters the anaconda tank and befriends the giant snakes - Montgomery tells us that the huge snakes would rest their heads peacefully on Marion's lap. Montgomery assures us that animals can come to trust humans. I think that might work 99% of the time, until one day the anaconda is hungry or in a bad mood, or decides to playfully see what happens when the friendly human gets squeezed. I was stunned to read the aquarium would allow anyone to enter the predators exhibit and cavort with the anacondas.

I wish there was a lot less of Montgomery in this book, and a whole lot more about octopuses. I originally learned of Montgomery after reading a review for Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell which sounded like an intriguing book about turtles. But now that I have experienced Montgomery's writing style, I suspect that book is more about Montgomery than it is about turtles, and so I have deleted it from my To Be Read list.