BIG OCTOPUS SEEN.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20538, 13 February 1935, Page 13

BIG OCTOPUS SEEN.

Tentacles as Thick as Man’s Leg. An octopus, reported to be one of the largest ever seen about the Wellington wharves, was on Sunday the centre of great interest near the Lyttelton ferry wharf (reports the “Post”). About 9 a.m. a fox terrier, well known for his practice of diving from the wharves nearby, leapt off the Lyttelton wharf to retrieve a stick which had been thrown in. He had already done this five or six times, but on the occasion mentioned the stick was thrown in a different direction. No sooner had the dog hit the water than a huge octopus was seen rising towards the dog. The dog escaped without being touched, but the sudden appearance of the octopus caused quite an alarm. In size it was estimated to be at least 15ft from tentacle tip to tentacle tip, and a “ Post ” reporter was informed yesterday by a man who was present at the time that the tentacles close to the body were about as thick as a man’s leg.

It is stated that an octopus, perhaps the one seen on Sunday, has been noticed before near the Queen’s Wharf. If it has roaming habits bathers near the wharves would be well advised to keep a sharp look-out. Many members of the Wellington Rowing Club and the Star Boating Club swim near the club-house skids opposite the Taranaki Street Wharf, but they do not report ever having seen an octopus. Several years ago the keeper of the hulk William Manson, which is now tied up between the Lyttelton Ferry and Railway Wharves, caught a large octopus near the Thorndon breastwork. He told a “ Post ” reporter that one of the feelers had no fewer than

80 suckers, ranging in size from a halfcrown to a pin’s head. The tentacles had been about as thick as a man’s forearm.