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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Lisa Bachelor

2025 is ‘year of the octopus’ as record numbers spotted off England’s south coast

An octopus on the sea bed.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust say more than 200,000 octopuses were caught in UK waters this year. Photograph: Kirsty Andrews/Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Record numbers of sightings of one of the world’s most intelligent invertebrates over the summer have led the Wildlife Trusts to declare 2025 “the year of the octopus” in its annual review of Britain’s seas.

A mild winter followed by an exceptionally warm spring prompted unprecedented numbers of Mediterranean octopuses to take up residence along England’s south coast, from Penzance in Cornwall to south Devon.

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