A pair of divers were hoping to get up close and personal with some marine life when they plunged into the waters off Hawaii, but they probably never imagined how close they really would get.
Caleb Heikes and his diving companion were thrilled when they saw octopuses approaching them as they led a dive off the coast of Oahu. Caleb was then reduced to fits of laughter when one octopus decided to pull itself in for a kiss, and wrapped its tentacles around his head.
“This octopus was definitely not aggressive!” Caleb, who runs the diving firm Hawaiian Diving Adventures, said. “However, they are extremely curious and intelligent. If you take the time to befriend one, then they can become comfortable around you.”
Sharing details of the moment, Caleb recalled that he and his diving companion spent almost an hour with the octopus before it climbed onto his face.
“I had my hand placed next to it until it crawled up my arm and decided to sit on my face and have the bubbles from my regulator act like a jacuzzi,” Caleb said, adding that the whole time the octopus sat on his face, he just kept laughing about it.
“I didn’t expect it to sit on my face the way it did but like I said I think it liked the feeling of the bubbles,” Caleb said. “I definitely had a tentacle or two wrap around my lips and enter my mouth, that was a very bizarre feeling.
“They are kind of slimy and very soft and leave some of that slime behind when they decide to leave. Their suction cups are hard to describe but when they use them to pull you, they are very strong. It almost tickles.”
However, Caleb warned that, though octopuses are small, they are very strong and have a really sharp beak, and they can bite on things when they feel threatened.
After eventually letting go of the passionate embrace, the octopus made sure to cling onto another female diver’s backside for a hug.
In explaining octopuses’ behavior further, Caleb noted the “eye contact they hold as they use their tentacles to figure out what you are. They definitely stare into your soul.”
Caleb also offers a word of caution: People shouldn’t go around picking up octopuses as some can be dangerous or poisonous.
“They are wild animals and should be left alone for the most part,” Caleb said, emphasizing that the octopuses in the photos are the ones he is lucky enough to see on his job and has taken the time to get to know them.
