Human and animal relationships are wonderful. Despite not being able to speak the same language, it is still possible to effectively communicate or eventually become friends with them. Aside from our daily encounters with domesticated pets like cats, dogs, and birds, there are rare instances where people could form a bond with another animal.
It is interesting to see these kinds of interactions with other species, especially the unusual or the less likely scenarios to happen.
A diver had one of these unexpected interactions with a marine animal.
Elora Kooistra is a diver and an island dive instructor who found an unlikely best friend on the seafloor of Glover’s Reef, located on the southern coast of Belize. In one of her dives, she found a certain Pygmy Octopus living in a shell.
She tried reaching out to the octopus and giving him a little fish, but as her finger and the octopus’ tentacle got close enough for them to touch, both of them got surprised and immediately pulled back. She trying doing the same thing again, and this time, the octopus was comfortable enough to try and pull her finger close to his home.
Elora was infatuated with the marine animal, and she named him Egbert.
She continued her interactions with Egbert, and she did not come to him unprepared. She brought a jar with a fish during one of her dives and surprised Egbert with it.
Elora also tried investigating whether an octopus is smart enough to open a jar lid. To her surprise, when she showed the jar to Egbert, the octopus was able to wrap his tentacles on the jar and twist it effortlessly.
Although the relationship was going smoothly, suddenly he left.
The number of divers and kayakers was slowly rising in the area where Egbert lives so he reverted to being a shy octopus. One day, something unexpected happened. Elora told The Dodo,
“After about a week, I went to look for him and his whole conch shell and Egbert was gone.”
Elora was devastated to see her newfound friend gone. She even had nightmares of Egbert being chased away by predators or other people. Luckily, after swimming around for a few days, she found Egbert again at a less crowded space on the seabed.
Elora and Egbert’s friendship grew a lot stronger than before.
She was glad to finally find her friend. Elora continued her adventures with Egbert, and eventually, the octopus gave her his full trust. Elora was confused at first as to why Egbert kept pulling her hand onto one of the trunks, but eventually, she got the message.
“So I put my finger, I pushed against the trunk,” said Elora.
As the octopus pushed forward and grabbed two shells found underneath the trunk, Elora concluded,
“Basically I was helping her hunt but I didn’t realize I was doing it.”
Elora and Egbert’s friendship beautifully flourished as Elora kept on gifting her octopus friend with a jarful of fishes, and trying to get him to interact with different objects every day. Egbert also never hesitated to wrap his tentacles around Elora’s fingers.
One day, Elora left for a vacation. When she got back, she went diving again to look for Egbert.
When Elora finally dove back into the ocean, she was worried that Egbert might have moved away from the place. She was really happy to find the adorable octopus swimming towards her feet when they reunited.
Click on the video below to watch the whole video of Elora and Egbert.
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