The giant Pacific octopus immediately started exploring the exhibit.

This video captures the very moment the octopus makes her grand entrance to her new exhibit. After aquarist Bill Murphy gently opens the lid to her transport barrel, she slides out to a round of applause!


Visitors and staff alike were lined up to witness the moment. She then explored all corners of the exhibit and finally settled down into a nook up front to rest after all her travels!


The aquarists believe that the new arrival is a female, they will carefully observe the octopus in the next couple days to make a final determination. They can tell by the number of suckers on one of the arms whether it is male or female.



Do you know how many suckers a giant Pacific octopus has on its body? Have you met their tiny cousins, the red octopus? Have you ever seen a cuttlefish snap its tentacles around a snack for a quick meal? These are just some of the things you can explore, learn, and see when you visit the Tentacles Take Hold program at the Aquarium. Buy your tickets today.

Big news for octopus lovers and bibliophiles! Our friend and author Sy Montgomery—who gave an Aquarium lecture last night with Keith Ellenbogen and earlier this year—was nominated for a National Book Award in nonfiction for her book Soul of an Octopus. Congratulations, Sy!

Signed copies of the book are available in our Gift Shop.

Look for this book in our Gift Shop, along with other fun octopus paraphernalia.

The Soul of an Octopus is really a love letter to cephalopods in general and a couple of the New England Aquarium’s giant Pacific octopuses in particular.

The first octopus Sy ever met was Athena, who was living in an exhibit at the Aquarium. She was dazzled as the cephalopod used the suction cups on her tentacles to feel and “smell” her. “She seems curious to know more,” Sy writes. “Slowly, she is transferring her grip on me from the smaller, outer suckers at the tips of her arms to the larger, stronger ones, nearer her head. I am now bent at a 90 degree angle .... I realize what is happening: she is pulling me steadily into her tank. How happily I would go with her!”

In a sense, Sy does follow Athena into the water. She delves into myths about octopuses, she travels to visit scientists studying octopus intelligence and she dives in Mexico and French Polynesia in search of octopuses in the wild. Pick up this lovely book at the Aquarium Gift Shop!




Athena was also the subject of a fascinating and lengthy article in Orion magazine, an international nature magazine. On a cold day one winter afternoon, Athena absolutely enthralled Sy, a former Boston Globe columnist and prominent nature writer, with a very interactive visit. Like the book, it is a wonderful read.

With all this publicity and admiration for these eight-armed creatures, there will likely be more fans of octopuses around the world! For that, we couldn't be more excited.

A former Aquarium octopus named Athena is the subject of a new, fascinating and lengthy article in Orion, an international nature magazine. On a cold day last winter, Athena absolutely enthralled Sy Montgomery, a former Boston Globe columnist and prominent nature writer, with a very interactive visit. Aquarist Scott Dowd was filling in for Bill Murphy. The article is a very firsthand look at the remarkable intelligence of these short-lived creatures.


But your octopus-apalooza doesn't have to end there! On November 15 at 7 p.m., Scott will participate in an Orion-sponsored online discussion about the article and octopus intelligence. Be sure to click through and listen for some more information about our clever giant Pacific octopus.


And don't forget to check out this classic blog post about an octopus in a box!

Visitors can enjoy some amazing moments at the New England Aquarium. We love it when they share those pictures with us on facebook! Here's a smattering of the fascinating, funny, elegant and amazing pictures that our visitors captured on camera.

The Giant Pacific Octopus exploring its tank.

by Anne Young

A sea jelly


A weedy sea dragon showing off its camouflage.

by Olya Scheer

Rockhopper penguins enjoying a spray. (Sprinklers regularly spray down the penguin islands to help keep them clean, learn more about the sprinklers on this Penguin Blog post!)

by Candi Imming

A northern fur seal resting on deck. It looks like he has feet!

by Mike Cook

OK, now it's your turn! Come visit us at the Aquarium, be sure to bring your camera, and then share your spectacular shots with us on facebook.