A blanket octopus starts out compact and rather cute before unfurling her majestic webbing like butterfly wings in a short clip captured during a blackwater night dive in the Lembeh Strait. The aquatic animal’s iridescent body and tentacles glow against the nighttime water before she releases her translucent blanket that connects her dorsal and dorsolateral arms.
Generally, the females ( can reach as long as six feet) only unfurl their color-changing blankets to appear larger and more intimidating to potential predators. Rebecca R. Helm at JellyBiologist.com explains that these ‘blankets’ or webs are “long sheets of multi-color changing skin.” It’s like a cape attached to their dorsal and dorsolateral tentacles that, when extended, may help them look larger and more frightening to potential predators.
Taken on a RED Gemini with a 50 millimeter Zeiss Macro lens, the underwater video has been shared by NAD Lembeh Resort. Here is the mesmerizing footage of blanket octopus!
