Be Flexible and Exhibit Grace Under Pressure

An Octopus is a soft-bodied sea animal.  They are a mollusc with eight long arms and bulging eyes. They are especially abundant in warm, tropical waters but they live in all the world’s oceans. 

Octopuses need water to survive and they take in oxygen through their gills. Octopuses have three hearts. Octopus have blue blood and the two peripheral hearts pump blood through the gills so they can pick up oxygen.  The central heart then circulated the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body to provide energy for their organs and muscles.  

The giant Pacific octopus has blue blood, three hearts, and nine brains. The central brain controls the nervous system and there is a small brain in each of their eight arms.  These smaller brains are a cluster of nerve cells that biologists say control the movement of the arms.

Octopus arms are amazing. If an arm is cut off, the severed limb will still move about for about an hour and then they decompose quickly. Each arm has its own control system that can guide its movements. Octopus limbs cannot sprout new parts like a starfish can but they continue to move for a long time even after the octopus is dead.

Octopus have hundreds of suckers that are powerful and can grasp onto just about any type of surface. Their arms bend and stretch in many combinations and the suckers along each arm will stick to almost any object they contact. The Octopus will secure itself to a rock or a coral formation and then reach out with just one or two arms to grab its prey.  Once it has a firm grip on its prey, it will move it towards its mouth by transferring the prey to the next sucker up the arm.  

The lifespan of most species is only one to two years.  The California two-spot octopus and get along fairly well in captivity and may live 3-5 years. 

Moray eels, fish, seals, sea otters, sperm whales, and many birds prey on octopuses. One of its deadliest predators is the shark.  Dogfish sharks, whitetip reef sharks, nurse sharks and some deep-water shark species will include the octopus in their diet. However, larger octopuses including the giant pacific octopus, are able to catch and eat sharks too.  The octopus enjoys a filling meal eating a shark. 

Octopuses are curious creatures.  They are generally not aggressive toward humans.  They will defend themselves if provoked and they are capable of causing serious injury.  All octopuses have venom but few are fatally dangerous. Australia’s tiny blue-ringed octopuses can kill humans by biting and injecting venom. One bite can kill an adult human in minutes. 

Octopus meat is rich in many essential vitamins and minerals.  It is an ideal choice for your seafood palette. Yanagidako is a cleaned and fully cooked octopus and is entirely edible.  The tentacles can be sliced thin and are quite tender.  The meat is a creamy white.  Diced or sliced Yanagidako can be added to salads, soups and sushi dishes. Octopus can be eaten raw and it can also be prepared by sautéing. Two thirds of octopus catch comes from Asia.  Countries that eat the most octopus are Korea, Japan and Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

These are the sayings I found on the bookmark called Advice from an Octopus.

• Be flexible

• Reach out

• Sea life’s beauty

• Exhibit grace under pressure

• Stick to what matters

• Know How to Get Out of a tight spot 

• Suck it Up!

Here are my comments about each of these sayings. 

• Be flexible - Be able to adapt to different situations. 

• Reach out - Make an effort to do something for others. 

• Sea life’s beauty - See the beauty and be thankful for all the beautiful things in the world.

• Exhibit grace under pressure - Even though you are nervous or under pressure, act gracefully and hold your composure.

• Stick to what matters - Focus on the important things.

• Know How to Get Out of a tight spot - Have a back up plan in case you find yourself in a tight situation.

• Suck it Up! - We all get in hard situations. Accept it and keep on moving forward. 

Have a great day everyone.   Be Flexible and Exhibit Grace Under Pressure. 

# living life abundantly   # published author  # travelling tuesdays