The Octopus Scientists

Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk
by Sy Montgomery

This 'Scientist in the Field' book was more in-depth than the previous one, and I enjoyed it more. The chapters detail how the author accompanied a team of scientists who were studying the eating habits of octopuses around the island of Moorea. For the duration of her visit they actually spent most of their time looking for octopuses to be their study subjects- they're very difficult to find, being excellent at camouflage and hiding in small spaces. Then it all fell into place and on the last day of her trip, they were suddenly finding octopus all over the place. So a lot of the information about octopus in this book is side notes and explanations, but it's fascinating regardless. (She mentions briefly the encounters with octopus in public aquariums described in The Soul of an Octopus). The part about how octopus change color (and skin texture) to blend with their surroundings is especially cool. There's a lot about other animals sharing the same ocean habitat, as well. And for some reason this book reminded me of those I've read by Eugenie Clark.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5            72 pages, 2015