Legging it! Octopus clambers out of a rock pool and WALKS across dry land in stunning close-up footage
- An octopus caught the tide inland to seek refuge in a beach rock pool
- But when the tide went back out, it emerged from the shelter in search of food
- Lawrence Scheele captured the rare instance at Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia
This is the fascinating moment an adventurous octopus climbs out of the water and crawls across rocks.
Free diver Lawrence Scheele captured the rare instance at Manly Beach, Sydney, Australia while the sea creature was hunting for food.
The octopus caught the tide inland and sought refuge in a rock pool. When the tide went out, the octopus emerged from the pool in search of food.
An adventurous octopus walks across rocks on Manly Beach near Sydney in search of food
It clambered out of the water and used the suckers on its eight limbs to stroll along the shoreline from rock pool to rock pool.
Lawrence said: ‘The diving conditions were terrible that day due to the recent Australian bush fires and storms so I decided to walk along the tidal pools as it was a king low tide that day.
The octopus caught the tide inland and sought refuge in a rock pool. When the tide went out, the octopus emerged from the pool in search of prey
Lawrence Scheele captured the rare encounter when he was out on a beachside walk
The octopus clambered out of the water, using its suckers to attach to the rocks and coral
‘Just as I was leaving, out of the corner of my eye a saw what I thought was a small brown dog walking along the rocks.
‘However, when I looked properly it was in fact a large octopus walking on dry land!
‘I was ecstatic. At first the octopus seemed cautious of me but after a while he became quite comfortable with me being there and went about his stroll in search of prey.’
‘I was ecstatic, at first the octopus seemed cautious of me but after a while he became quite comfortable with me being there and went about his stroll in search of prey,’ said Lawrence
The creature is believed to be either an Maori octopus, and a Giant Pacific Octopus, although sightings of this latter variety are extremely rare in Australia