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I would like to believe that (we’re) best friends.Come play your part at LEGOLAND ® California Resort, located just 30 minutes north of San Diego and one hour south of Anaheim. But that hasn’t stopped him from diving into the tanks once a month to get up close. “One has to be careful to not put their hand right by the beak,” he says. Kulkani’s job is not without risk: octopuses use their sharp beaks to inject venom in their prey.
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Giant pacific octopus how to#
“They have figured out how to twist and turn to open a ball with food in it, and Noodle can open lid on a plastic jar to reach for food inside.” “It is always gone by the next day,” Kulkarni says.
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“That’s why sometimes, they are said to have nine brains – one main centralized brain and one from each arm.”ĭespite being raised in captivity, both Noodle and Spaghetti are very good at foraging, a skill their handlers keep sharp by zip-tying food to plants in the tanks. “About 66 per cent of octopuses’ neurons are in their arms, which can also feature more than 2,000 suckers,” he adds. “They will then start feeling my hand with their suckers,” he says, “which not only gives them a strong grip, but also sense of taste and smell. Every interaction with the aquarist is a form of enrichment, including feeding time, which Kulkarni begins by putting a target in the water and splashing five times – the cue for them to come over. “Training for them is mostly to get them used to getting in a bucket and staying there – or a net for Spaghetti, as he is too big for a bucket – so the vet can have a look or if they need to be weighed,” says Kulkarni. Kulkarni and assistant aquarist Caroline Dyer also do training and enrichment. The primary aquarist for the giant Pacific octopus tank for the past six months, he is responsible for monitoring health and maintaining the cleanliness of the tank and its water chemistry. “Three times now,” Kukarni says, “I’ve seen Noodle start to siphon and squirt water as that particular staff member came close to say hello.”Ī certified diving instructor who has worked with sharks, rays, eels and jellyfish, Kulkarni joined Ripley’s as a diver in 2018, moving on to the husbandry team in 2020. Noodle, he adds, appears to have taken a dislike to someone on the team. “Both Noodle and Spaghetti appear to be a lot calmer when we are interacting with them.” “Experiments have shown than octopuses can tell humans apart,” say Kulkarni, who adds that they can also form bonds with their handlers. Intelligent and sentient animals, they can recognize human faces. In the wild, they prefer cool water, low light levels, rocky terrain and caves where they can hide, all of which is replicated in the octopus exhibit’s 12,000-litre tank. Native to the north Pacific region, these octopuses are not endangered, Kulkarni says, but face threats including pollution and overfishing of their prey: shrimps, clams, lobsters, crabs and scallops. He would hold on to it for a while and then just drop it at the bottom of his tank for me to fish it out later.” “Spaghetti,” Kulkarni says, “is more into showing off his strength and gets into a tug of war with me for his feeding pole – and more often than not, wins. While Spaghetti, a two-year-old male, loves his toy watering can, Noodle, a seven-month-old female, enjoys head pats and tickles. “Weird as it may sound, they both like water being sprayed or trickled on them,” Kulkarni says. (Bright orange lobsters, a one-in-30-million rarity, are making a splash at Ripley’s) If anything, Spaghetti and Noodle – the giant Pacific octopuses in residence – are more reminiscent of puppies. “Octopuses are not some fearsome sea monsters who enjoy chomping on fish and ships,” says the aquarist in charge of the exhibit at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada on Bremner Boulevard. Prathamesh Kulkarni wants to dispel that myth. The stuff of nightmares for many people, the octopus has been depicted in literature and art for centuries as terrors of the sea.