Terrifying moment a giant octopus named Larry almost strangles a diver 40-feet underwater

I was recently interviewed about this video. Here was my response. WHEN AND WHERE WAS THE VIDEO TAKEN? This video was taken on the brown wall northeast of Port Hardy in the lower Queen Charlotte Straights in early October 2022. British Columbia, Canada. CAN YOU BRIEFLY DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE VIDEO? While diving on the Browning Wall, my buddy Stuart Seldon and I became separated by the fast-flowing tides on the descent. As I descended to about 40′ I began looking for octopuses in the crevices and crevices along the wall teaming with anemones, soft corals, crustaceans and countless examples of unique marine life. Not far from me, maybe fifty yards away, Stu was at a similar depth with his camera. When he descended, he saw a GPO (giant pacific octopus) on the wall. Hovering motionless in front of this incredible creature, he began setting his camera to snap a picture, hoping I would join him soon. As he began taking the photos, the GPO jumped on his camera and wrapped some of his tendrils around Stu’s neck, limbs, and torso. In a weak way, my buddy Stu decided to swim as best he could to show me the GPO I would call Larry. Looking up from the wall, I saw my friend standing straight up with an amused if not bewildered and confused expression on his face. At first I had no idea what I was looking at. A big amber plastic bag, maybe an old set of sea squirts left at sea, “Oh my god a GPO!” I remembered that my GoPro had been cut off on one of my D-rings, so I started filming this abstract face in front of me. Soon after, Larry, the GPO, lost interest and swam back to the wall and started looking for another bass. As I was filming the majestic movement of this magnificent beast, he started to take an interest in my GoPro, almost trying to snatch it from my hands, but maybe he’d had enough camera candy for now. After a short photo shoot with Larry and I by Stu, I started seeing bubbles from different depths, so I swam off to let my fellow divers know about this beautiful wild creature above. While I was swimming, Stu kept documenting Larry, the eight-limbed mollusk. After informing everyone, I returned to a cluster of cameras and swam on to find new creatures and crustaceans along the wall in a diminishing current. When I surfaced, I discovered that Larrya had jumped onto two other cameras held by two fellow divers. It was a memorable dive that will remain etched in my mind forever. WHY DID YOU MAKE THIS VIDEO? See above CREDIT FOR THE PICTURES? Michael Marcotte videographer Stu Seldon Model Larry GPO Model ADD ANYTHING MORE? We stayed at the Hideaway, a floating dive resort with low expectations. This is why we dive!

Posted by Michael Marcotte on Thursday, March 2, 2023