Hoff: Eight arms, eighth month: Celebrating the octopus

While sharks are larger and have better smell, their sight and hearing are no better than the octopus’s. Even though both are ambushers, octopuses possess better defenses, having the ability to change the color and texture of their skin. And the cloud of black ink the octopus sprays as a smokescreen negates the shark’s sense of smell.”

Dr. Samuel B. Hoff, a George Washington Distinguished Professor Emeritus of history and political science at Delaware State University, is a resident of Dover.

By Dr. Samuel B. Hoff

OK, sharks, we’ve seen your act. Aided by humans who express both fear and fascination, a week in July was deemed “Shark Week” several years ago. That morphed into Shark Month, such that all of the seventh month now seems to be reruns of “Jaws.”

So it’s both fitting and fair that August be reserved for a much more hospitable marine creature: the octopus.

First, like sharks, the octopus is a predator but one that normally feeds on crabs, clams, snails and other octopuses. While shark attacks against humans have numbered in the hundreds, there is rarely a report of an adverse event involving a human and an octopus. Though all species of octopuses are venomous, only the blue-ringed species contains a poison fatal to humans, and there have been no more than 20 such incidences in recorded history.

Sharks may be intimidating, but compared to octopuses, they are dumb. Not only is the octopus highly intelligent, but there is evidence that they have both short- and long-term memory. Along with whales, octopuses have demonstrated rudimentary problem-solving skills. Perhaps most impressive, the octopus has the highest brain-to-body mass of all invertebrates. Maybe that is why some have speculated that, as a higher life-form, octopuses may have emigrated from another world.

While sharks are larger and have better smell, their sight and hearing are no better than the octopus’s. Even though both are ambushers, octopuses possess better defenses, having the ability to change the color and texture of their skin. And the cloud of black ink the octopus sprays as a smokescreen negates the shark’s sense of smell.

The average life of a shark — about 30 years — is still 10 times the life span of the average octopus’s. But with longevity comes loss, as a shark regrows 30,000 teeth during its existence. Further, a longer life means increased risks. For instance, a recent report out of the Florida Keys noted that sharks are ingesting discarded cocaine packets. Then, there are the authentic shark hunts, for which the great whites are often the target.

The vast majority of fiction about sharks and octopuses generally mirrors their real-life tendencies. Peter Benchley’s 1974 book about a shark attack was made into the blockbuster movie the next year. The hilarious “Sharknado” films show sharks performing various malevolent stunts. Conversely, Claire Fuller’s recent tome, “The Memory of Animals,” depicts a woman falling in love with an octopus. Not hard to do, especially when the octopus has not one, not two, but three hearts.

A commentator called the mixture of July and Shark Month the “tentpole” of summer. Though schools are, unfortunately, starting the fall semester before Labor Day, August is still vacation month. A month of calm and serenity. The eighth month, to go with the eight arms of the octopus. July is as busy as the speeding shark. I prefer the ocean-floor meandering mollusc when the sturgeon moon shines.