A dead octopus has been found in the River Taff in Cardiff. Three children and their mum found the animal on the banks of the river near Blackweir Bridge on Sunday, September 27.
The children's father, who did not want to be named, said that his son Finley, 8, and his twin sisters Catrin and Florence, both aged 5, had been out walking with their mum when they came across the octopus. He said: "My kids actually found it whilst walking the Taff with their mum [on Sunday] just below Blackweir.
"A dog was going nuts barking at it and then when they went over to investigate saw the octopus in the water. Apparently, it smelt pretty bad so they left it where they found it. Not something you'd normally find in a river so I can only assume it was thrown in."
READ MORE: The lost zoo in a Cardiff park that drew crowds from all over with its exotic animals
In February this year, two octopi were filmed walking back to sea after they were washed up along the shore following Storms Eunice and Franklin. The octopi were spotted in a healthy condition "wandering on the beach" in New Quay. While the curled octopus (Eledone cirrhosa) is not an uncommon sight in Welsh waters, it's far less common to see them on the shore.
Back in 2017, more than 20 octopi were seen crawling up a New Quay beach, with many later being found dead after failing to make it back to sea. Freya Johns, Media Officer from The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said “It’s very difficult to tell from the image which species of octopus this is, the cause of its death, nor how it came to be in the river Taff. We suspect that it was either disposed of in the river, or washed upstream, as there are no native species of freshwater octopus in the UK.”
READ NEXT:
