It's been a bumper year for octopuses off the Cornish south coast, with one fisherman saying he caught 150 in one day last month. Chris Chesterfield said he would normally expect to catch around six in a year.
Fishermen have witnessed large numbers of octopuses in their lobster pots and cuttlefish traps, CornwallLive reports. Cornwall Wildlife Trust believes there is an octopus population boom.
Matt Slater, marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “I got really excited when I started receiving messages from our Seasearch divers – not only because sightings of these striking animals are few and far between, but because they’d seen several of them on one dive.
“They are such amazing, alien creatures – one of the most intelligent animals in our oceans – and to witness a population explosion in our local waters would be incredible.”
The Guardian quoted Mr Chesterfield as saying he caught 260kg of octopus in one day, that's around 150 of the soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc. He said: “There’s been loads of days when you’re pulling 100kg, no problem at all."
The Common Octopus is known for its large eyes, soft bag-like body and tentacles which can span up to one metre. Like other cephalopods, their populations fluctuate dramatically as scientists attempt to learn more about their behaviour and abundance.
Massive population booms of octopuses are uncommon, but not unheard of. The Marine Biological Association has reported on several major octopus ‘plagues’ along the south coast of England from Lands End to Sussex; first in 1899 and most recently in the summer of 1948.
Matt added: “We hope this is a sign that octopus populations are healthy in our Cornish waters, but sadly not all of our marine life is thriving. By taking action for wildlife and recording your marine sightings with us, we can build up a picture over time and confirm if occurrences like this are a one off or if octopus populations are steadily on the rise.”
Cornwall Wildlife Trust is encouraging members of the public to record any octopus sightings with them via its ORKS app or online.
