Are you climate-smart? Then keep the oceans cool — and save super-intelligent octopuses.
Are you one of those people who dither about eating octopus? Maybe it’s the kinda ugly tentacles and such. Or maybe it’s because they are said to be extraordinarily intelligent, with the Smithsonian saying they can complete puzzles, untie knots, open jars and toddler proof cases, and are expert escape artists from aquariums.
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Well, here’s another reason to feel guilty about chomping into these aqua-animals: a new study has found that the creatures are in danger of losing their vision and may struggle to survive due to heat stress caused by climate change-induced ocean warming.
Yes, an Australian study published in the journal Climate Change Biology found that if temperatures rise 5C — something predicted by 2100 if global warming is not slowed — impaired eyesight could result. This is particularly crucial for the animals because they are highly reliant on sight for survival, with about 70% of the octopus brain dedicated to vision, which plays a crucial role in communication and detecting predators and prey.
In addition, the study found that higher temperatures were associated with higher rates of unborn offspring and an increased rate of premature deaths of pregnant mothers. Meanwhile, eggs did not hatch for two of the three octopus breeds kept at 25C. The researchers said this was due partly to the deaths of mothers while eggs were in early development stages.
“It’s only a change of three or so degrees and you’re starting to see the impairment of organisms,” said Bronwyn Gillanders, the head of biological sciences at the University of Adelaide and a co-author of the study.
If you aren’t already feeling guilty, you’ve now got yourself a double (or triple) whammy.
