The Soul of an Octopus

Octopuses are amazing creatures: eight legs, 3 hearts, and thousands of chromatophores in their skin that enable them to change color and patterns in a fraction of a second. But intelligence?

Years ago, when on a film assignment at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, I met a renowned scientist of animal behavior, the late Dr. Martin Moynihan, who said that cephalopods, the group of ocean animals that includes octopuses and squid, have a complex communication system.

He compared their repertoire of signals to a language with grammar and syntax. I filed that information away in… show more.

Does an octopus have a soul? Are they conscious, or just an agglomeration of 9 brains? Montgomery makes a fascinating case for turning our serious attention to the amazing array of behaviors that might add up to something … human.

A great read by a far-ranging naturalist writer. I loved this book because she saw the connections of feelings between humans and an amazing animal. See if you agree.

Montgomery is one of my favorite non-fiction authors. She has written about her family’s pet pig, and she’s written about every creature, from hummingbirds and snakes to condors and pink dolphins.

But this book is, for me, one of the most eye-opening books I’ve ever read. It’s not a friendship/relationship in the same way as my other book recommendations, but Montgomery writes about a single octopus and its exploits in an aquarium. We learn just how smart and funny! octopuses are.

Also, because of this book, I cannot eat calamari anymore.

If you watched and loved the movie My Octopus Teacher about the friendship between a filmmaker and a Pacific octopus, then this book will intrigue and inform you.

Sy Montgomery is a top-notch researcher and best-selling storyteller, and she makes her experience studying octopuses around the world personal and relatable. Both the movie and book brought me to tears at the beauty of these inter-species friendships.

Read this one to discover what we’re learning about the incredible intelligence and varied personalities of these astounding creatures.

Granted, Montgomery anthropomorphizes throughout this book, attributing all sorts of cognition and emotion to these fascinating cephalopods; but this book is so charming, partly because she captures her own awe so well, that I put aside my skepticism and enjoyed The Soul of an Octopus for what it unquestionably is: a great read.

This is the book that made me love the octopus! With humor, brilliance, and empathy, naturalist Sy Montgomery explores the physical and emotional world of largely captive octopuses, and their impact on the caregivers and divers who encounter them. As Montogomery attempts to bridge the gap between her own human consciousness and that of the octopuses, they reveal themselves to be intelligent and spirited creatures with complex emotional lives.

This book begs the question: how can human beings think they understand and thus know a living creature who possesses a more sophisticated sensory system and perceptual capacity than humans have themselves? This humancentric arrogance and naïveté become obvious while reading this tale of love and relationship. With a complex and “clever” brain, one would think we would all bow down with deep respect and open ourselves to the unimaginable – what might it be like to think, feel and sense as Octavia the Octopus does?  Perhaps by doing so we gain respect for her soulful life. Naturalist Sy Montgomery… show more.

The Soul of an Octopus follows Sy Montgomery’s journey into an underwater world of secrets and surprises. As a guest at the New England Aquarium, she is privileged to study the giant Pacific octopus, an animal whose intelligence and canniness we are only beginning to understand. Montgomery often has the feeling that the octopuses she observes are evaluating her with equal curiosity, reaching out with several arms to touch and smell her skin. Meeting their gaze makes her think “of the look in the eyes of paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses: serene, all-knowing, heavy with wisdom stretching back beyond… show more.