A freediver in Cyprus was surprised to play a game of hide-and-seek with an octopus on Sunday.
The diver, Matthew Hyatt, who has posted daily video updates to his social media about his attempts to befriend the majestic animal, was in shock to see the octopus opening up to him.
OCTOPUS WRAPS ITSELF AROUND DIVER’S CAMERA
Hyatt has been regularly swimming with the creature since Oct. 16.
“I’ve been going every day for three weeks,” Hyatt said. “Our interactions are getting more and more interesting.”
An octopus rests on the seafloor 1150 meters deep, in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, at an area where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies.
(ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute / FOX Weather)
In the video, you see Hyatt swimming towards the octopus to interact with it. The animal then swims away to hide behind a rock.
When Hyatt swims in a different direction to search for the eight-tentacle creature, the animal slowly emerges. The creature quietly moves along the ocean floor before revealing himself.
Once the diver discovers the octopus, the animal extends one of its tentacles to grab Hyatt’s hand. The movement appears to be as if they are shaking hands or the octopus is acknowledging that it has been caught.
FILE – A diver watches one of the giant Pacific octopus crawl along the glass enclosure at the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco.
(Brant Ward / San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images)
Octopuses are known to be recluse creatures, meaning that they primarily spend most of their time alone. They are also considered extremely clever, imaginative and playful animals.
