Nature

Octopus: Making Contact

The octopus is the closest we may get to meeting an alien. They evolved from a common cousin more than 500 million years ago, but are also intelligent creatures with proven problem-solving abilities. So what happens when you invite an eight-legged alien into your living room? This documentary follows marine biologist David Scheel as he tracks his evolving relationship with his own octopus.

Octopus Dreaming

1m 48s

Do octopuses dream? Watch the brilliant color changes of a sleeping octopus that indicates she may be dreaming.

Previews + Extras

  • Baby Cephalopods' First Moments: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Baby Cephalopods' First Moments

    S38 E1 - 2m 31s

    Watch as baby octopuses and squid hatch from their eggs and immediately begin hunting and camouflaging themselves.

  • An Octopus' Coconut Home: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    An Octopus' Coconut Home

    S38 E1 - 2m 29s

    This octopus has devised an ingenious way to create a moveable shelter by assembling two halves of a coconut shell.

  • Can a teenager befriend an octopus?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Can a teenager befriend an octopus?

    S38 E1 - 1m 57s

    The idea that humans and mollusks could have any kind of relationship is remarkable when considering the evolutionary distance between the species. Yet watch the playful relationship between a teenager, Laurel, and an octopus, Heidi.

  • Octopus: Making Contact Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Octopus: Making Contact Preview

    S38 E1 - 35s

    Follow an Alaskan professor as he raises and studies a day octopus in his home, making remarkable discoveries about its extraordinary intelligence, personality and skills. Octopuses are able to recognize faces and interact with other individuals.

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