Fox News: Rare ‘Sharktopus’ – an octopus riding a shark – sighting caught on camera shared by scientists

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Rare 'Sharktopus' – an octopus riding a shark – sighting caught on camera shared by scientists

The rare sighting of an octopus riding on top of a shark was shared by scientists with the University of Auckland after it was captured off the coast of New Zealand.......                    ...                        ...What happens when an octopus jumps on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login for a ride around town? ......A "sharktopus," of course.......The rare sighting, captured on video off the coast of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and shared by scientists affiliated with the University of Auckland, shows a Maori octopus riding on top of a mako shark, which is the fastest in the world with the ability to swim up to 46 mph. ......The university said the December 2023 encounter "was one of the strangest things University of Auckland marine scientists had ever seen. It was a mysterious sight indeed... octopus are mostly on the seabed while short-fin mako sharks don't [favor] the deep."......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......The university researchers had been looking for You are not allowed to view links. Register or Loginin the Hauraki Gulf near Kawau Island when a mako shark with an "orange patch" on its head was discovered. ......The researchers launched a drone and put a GoPro camera in the water and "saw something unforgettable: an octopus perched atop the shark's head, clinging on with its tentacles," University of Auckland Professor Rochelle Constantine wrote in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login last week. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Constantine added that the researchers moved on after 10 minutes, so they weren't sure what happened to the "sharktopus" next, but the "octopus may have been in for quite the experience, since the world's fastest shark species can reach [30 mph]."......"At first, I was like, 'Is it a buoy?'" Constantine told The New York Times this week. "'Is it entangled in fishing gear or had a big bite?'"......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......She pointed out, "You can see it takes a fair amount of real estate on the shark's head," noting that neither animal seemed bothered by the encounter. ......"The shark seemed quite happy, and the octopus seemed quite happy. It was a very calm scene," she said. ...

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