Litter Shelter
Octopuses are increasingly being observed and photographed using discarded cans, bottles and other trash as shelter, and even places to safely lay their eggs, hidden from predators.
Writing in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, lead researcher Maira Proietti at Brazil’s Federal University of Rio Grande says her team examined hundreds of images from “citizen scientists” to see how the creatures are literally embracing such trash. “They clearly see that there’s a lot of litter around, and it can therefore act as a kind of artificial camouflage,” said Proietti. But she cautions that sheltering or laying eggs in discarded tyres, batteries, plastic containers and other man-made items could expose the octopuses to heavy metals or toxic chemicals.
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