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Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

nytimes.com

11–20 of 250 posts

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#11
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

I agree but cheer up. One day you and I will provide sustenance for a whole range of lower order organisms - one way or another.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#12
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to worry about how smart their meal is. Only religion ever seems to make a dent in dietary habits in the 3rd world.

Japan is not the third world.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#13
post #9

>Inky is not the first octopus to attract the spotlight. In the summer of 2010, Paul, an octopus in Germany, gained worldwide attention when he appeared to correctly pick the winning team in all seven of Germany’s games at the World Cup in South Africa — a feat that inspired a song. He has been immortalized in Oberhausen, Germany, with a six-foot plastic replica of him clutching a soccer ball. To me, this cheapens th…

Yeah, your basic octopus scam where you get a bunch of octupi and have them predict results from sports games, and advertise the results of the one that has managed to "predict" the most results.

Nope, it and only it was seriously followed by tabloids and reputable newspapers alike at least from the second match on.

Sure, it was chance. But not a "pick a winner in hindsight" scam.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#15
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to worry about how smart their meal is. Only religion ever seems to make a dent in dietary habits in the 3rd world.

How does hunger necessitate eating live animals? And isn't octopus relatively expensive, anyways?

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#16
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

I really enjoy reading octopus, but will not do so any longer.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#17
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to worry about how smart their meal is. Only religion ever seems to make a dent in dietary habits in the 3rd world.

Isn't eating live animals a luxurious thing in some regions of Asia?

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#18
post #11
post #7

It upsets me to no end that we find evidence such as this piece that cephalopods are actually (relatively speaking) remarkably more intelligent than common wisdom pertains[0], and yet the culinary abuse and harm (i.e. 'live sushi/sashimi') of these creatures continues. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence

I agree but cheer up. One day you and I will provide sustenance for a whole range of lower order organisms - one way or another.

That will not involve a whole lot of suffering that can be prevented.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to worry about how smart their meal is. Only religion ever seems to make a dent in dietary habits in the 3rd world.

How does hunger necessitate eating live animals? And isn't octopus relatively expensive, anyways?

I'm not talking specifically about eating them while alive, which is a relatively rare practice anyway. Their torment as by-catch and just in general seems more ubiquitous to me. Eating them alive is gruesome, but frankly a lot closer to what an octopus can expect in nature. Being put in solitary in a tiny box though? Being held in a tank in terrible conditions, and then brutally dispatched?

That's all too common.

Re: Inky the octopus breaks out of New Zealand aquarium

#20
A similar interesting octopus story not mentioned in the article:

A particular light in a German aquarium kept short-circuiting and no one could figure out why. Using camera surveillance it was finally discovered that every night, the octopus would climb to the edge of his tank and shoot a jet of water on the light, shorting it. It was speculated that the light had been bothering the octopus' nocturnal routine.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3328...

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