Washington girl helps save giant octopus that washed up on beach
SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. -- A quick-thinking girl in Washington state helped rescue a giant Pacific octopus after it became stranded on the beach last week.
She poured water on it until officials arrived to help.
Swift action was taken by a group of people with one mission, getting this giant octopus back in the water.
"They can't survive out of water for more than several minutes. It collapses their gills," said Annie England with Padilla Bay Reserve.
She got a call from the ranger at Bayview State Park in Mount Vernon last Wednesday about an octopus stranded on the beach.
"I wasn't anticipating finding such an alive, healthy octopus," she said.
England credits a little girl who was visiting the beach with her family for keeping the octopus alive.
"She was taking water with her little sand bucket and she was filling it up and she was pouring it on top of the octopus," she said.
England says the actions taken by that little girl are the best thing you can do if you ever encounter an octopus out of the water.
"We would never encourage the public to try to move an octopus or touch it. Um but definitely pouring water on it and calling a local aquarium or uh organization that you know, works with marine animals," said England.
She says finding an octopus alive out of the water is not common, and says this is the first octopus rescue she and her team has ever done.
"We had to be very conscientious of where we are putting our, our hands while we are moving the octopus, uh thankfully, we were able to get it into the bin and then we were able to drag it out," she said.
England says she's relieved the mission was a success and hopes the octopus doesn't have to ever experience something like this again.
