On October 8th, World Octopus Day celebrates one of the earth’s oldest creatures.
The animal is best known for its eight legs and ink-squirting abilities.
However, there is so much more to know about this fantastic creature.
Octopus fossils date back over 300 million years.
This means that the octopus is older than the dinosaur!
Here are some other cool facts about these cephalopods:
- 300 species of octopuses
- 500 million neurons in their brains and arms
- Octopuses come in all colors, shapes, and sizes
- A rare type of octopus has tentacles that glow in the dark
- Some octopuses live in shallow waters while others live 2.6 miles below the surface of the ocean
- The largest octopus on record weighed 156 pounds
- Their mantle changes color so that it blends into its surroundings
- An octopus can swim nearly 25 miles per hour for short distances
- They mainly eat mollusks, crustaceans, and even smaller species of octopus
- Some species of octopus lives in every ocean in the world and along every coast of the U.S.
- The female octopus lays up to 400,000 eggs
- Large octopus only live up to 5 years
Many people are enamored by the octopus and for a good reason. There is simply no other creature on earth, quite like the octopus. Some consider them the most intelligent being on the planet.
Besides being super smart, the octopus is likened to Houdini. Since the octopus doesn’t have an internal skeleton or a protective shell, it squeezes through narrow openings. Lacking any bone structure, an octopus has even been known to escape from a jar with a closed lid. They indeed are unique and unusual animals!
La Journée Mondiale de l’Orque permet aussi de soutenir les associations et organismes rassemblant les personnes qui s’intéressent à cet animal et qui se battent pour sa sauvegarde.
Every year on June 8, World Ocean Day is commemorated to remind people of the importance of the oceans and the major role they play in everyday life. According to the United Nations, the day intends to raise awareness about the impact of human activities on the oceans and to create a united movement for the species of the ocean. Besides, the day is also observed to make raise public awareness of the ocean and its resources in order to promote global ocean and resource sustainability. The day intends to highlight the various resources that mankind derives from the ocean, as well as the various threats that the ocean faces. 
Although coral reefs occupy less than 0.1 percent of the planet’s oceans, they support up to 25 percent of the world’s marine species. They have rightfully earned their nickname, ‘Rainforests of the Sea.’ Coral is not a plant, but part animal and part mineral, a marine invertebrate that secretes calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. They grow in colonies, usually in warm, shallow waters, and form vast colonies that we see as reefs, providing the basic platform for marine life to flourish around them. They even provide benefits to land, protecting shorelines from the forces of the ocean.
