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This 'Blue Planet II' footage of an octopus covering itself in shells to evade a shark is incredible

Take that ya dumb pyjama shark!

Isobel Hamilton

on November 27, 2017

This 'Blue Planet II' footage of an octopus covering itself in shells to evade a shark is incredible

Look at that marine mastermind. Credit: imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock

And the prize for the sneakiest thing in the sea goes to...

Attenborough documentaries aren't just glorious examples of television, they're useful for scientists in that they document some of the most difficult behaviours to observe in the wild.

Last night Blue Planet II outdid itself, getting footage of an octopus outsmarting the aptly-named pyjama shark.

The octopus in question lived off the coast of South Africa in a kelp forest. She's quite a good little hunter.

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But (classic Attenborough) she is also the hunted. Blue Planet II filmed the octopus being attacked by a shark, and she had two incredible strategies for dealing with it. The first was to choke out a shark which had got hold of her.

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The marine equivalent of shoving your fist down an attacker's throat. Once she'd got away from shark attack no.1 however she had to find a place to hide. This is the part that blew everyone's minds.

Using her tentacles she pulled pieces of shell debris to cover her body, creating a sort of armour plating. This confused the shark that came to investigate the strange, octopus-shaped pile, giving her enough time to jet away.