The Octopus's Garden

The octopus is the ultimate transformer. It can morph into any shape it requires; it can fly like a jet, and settle into stealth.

– Narrator Jeffrey Thomas on the mysterious and intriguing octopus

Camouflaged, she freezes. When it's safe, she moves on, each of her arms carrying out its own independent reconnaissance. Each arm is a separate sensory organ with its own neural control.

– Narrator Jeffrey Thomas describes a female octopus hiding from a prowling shark

Her bite is directed at the eye stalk, injecting poison into the optic nerve which leads directly to the brain. The lobster is paralysed in just three minutes. The bite is followed by a shot of saliva containing digestive enzymes to break down the muscle attachments of the lobster. The pureed flesh can now by sucked from the body, leaving hollowed out legs and an intact shell. 

– Narrator Jeffrey Thomas' vivid description of an octopus hunting a lobster

Gathering growth information is not easy when you're trying to measure the ultimate transformer. They can contort their shape so completely that the only reliable measurement is between the eyes.

– Narrator Jeffrey Thomas on Cephalopodologist Natalie Managh measuring an adult female octopus

The blue cod is a ravenous and vicious foe, but it’s the octopus’s close encounters with a lobster boat, the monstrous jaws of an oyster dredge, and even a research vessel which provide some of the film's most dramatic moments ⎯ and her most remarkable escapes.

– Excerpt from a review of documentary The Octopus's Garden, National Geographic website