A few weeks ago, the MaST Aquarium on Redondo beach released one of their favorite animals back out into the wild. George the Octopus has been with MaST for about 6 months, and was starting to outgrow his tank. It was time to let him free so that he can live a happy life out in the ocean, and hopefully reproduce.
I took the kids down to the aquarium to photograph the event. They had a “graduation party” for George, complete with cake and refreshments after the release. Over 300 people showed up at the little aquarium to send him off with well wishes and love…it was really SUCH a cool day!
The Seattle Aquarium donated some of their octopus materials to MaST for the day.
Here are some octopus eggs:
The only bone in an octopus body is his “beak”. If this part of his mouth can fit through an opening, then the rest of him will as well.
They had George ready for his release in a holding bucket. Octopi are very very smart animals; they have about the same IQ as most dogs. They had to secure the lid down on the bucket tightly…otherwise, George would have opened the lid and crawled right on out.
Check out the cutie cake donated by Fred Meyer!
Waiting for George…
This little crab wanted to be a part of the action…
People of all ages came out to enjoy the event.
Here we go! It’s time!
Here we go!
This is the line for the camera attached to the divers gear so we could watch what was going on.
Inside, the crowd gathered to watch the live video stream of the release.
He’s out of the bucket!
It’s cake time!
Russ, who did most of the coordinating for the event, let everyone try on his scuba mask.
Here’s Arianna…
And Asa…
And of course I had to try it on, too! The rest of these shots were taken by Arianna…she’s getting pretty good with that camera, eh?
George, we all hope you live a long and happy life in our beach. Thanks for letting us get to know you, and we wish you the best of luck!
Rus and MaST Aquarium: Thanks for letting me be a part of your day. Keep up the great work…you are an invaluable part of our community!
Check out the last BLOG I wrote about MaST, and don’t forget to join MaST’s Facebook Page to keep updated on their latest events.
Also, click HERE to view the video stream from his release.
