My Octopus Teacher: Important lessons we learned from an octopus, a Netflix documentary that won the 93rd Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, starring Craig Foster and a lovely octopus teacher. A heartwarming and engaging documentary that’s more than just notes or theory-based, it’s available on Netflix.
“Many people like to say that squids look like aliens. The strange thing is that the closer you get to them, the more you find that we are similar in many ways.”Craig Foster
Synopsis
“They are in nature and I am outside. It makes me want to really be in that world like them.”
Craig Foster grew up in the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by rocks, tides and kelp forests. He used to go scuba diving, looking at seaweed and marine life. As he grew older, those activities disappeared, and his job took over. It wasn’t until he went out with his brother to make a movie called “The Great Dance” that he met the best trackers. They were a tribe that could track animals through traces that no one else could see. He began to envy the people who lived in harmony with nature.
“I ruined myself.”
After 18 years of hard work, Craig found he could no longer hold a video camera or look at an editing program. He was burned out, had months of sleepless nights, lost all purpose in life, and his condition was affecting his family. The family suffered because of his condition, and he now knew he could no longer be a good father to his son.
“The wonder of the 3D underwater forest is that just 10-15 minutes of admiring its beauty, and that’s it, you’re done.”
He decided to draw inspiration from his childhood love and envy of his former skilled trackers. He returned to the rocks surrounded by the kelp forest. The first part of the dive was very difficult because the water temperature could drop by 8-9 degrees Celsius. When you can relax in the cool touch of the water, just 10-15 minutes of the beauty of the ocean floor, it’s like a 3D forest where you can jump in any direction, as if you are a bird flying freely under the water.
“What exactly does this animal do? What would happen if I went to see it every day without missing a day?”
As Craig flew by, taking in the beauty beneath the ocean, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of something strange. It was a group of moving shells, hiding some kind of creature. When he got close to it, it let go of all its shells and swam away quickly, leaving behind a trail of black ink. It was a squid, and it was too tempting to just let go. He could feel its specialness, so he decided to come and peek at it every day.
Day – 1 She is still scared but curious.
On the first day he went to see the octopus, it was still afraid of him and chose to hide in its own burrow, changing its color to blend in with the gravel, sand and coral nearby. Craig knew that the octopus didn’t trust him that much, so he left the camera near its burrow. When he left, the octopus would secretly observe the camera through a small hole from its hiding place. Sometimes it would come close to the camera, touch it, taste it, or sometimes it would play with it. Craig couldn’t leave the camera there for too long or the octopus would tip over and damage his box.
Day – 26 Fear that began to turn into trust
Craig discovered that there was a burrow of a Pajāma shark (the octopus’s arch-enemy) next to his burrow. After the octopus had seen his face for several days, today it became curious and wanted to check him out. The octopus was still using its tentacles to cling to the burrow on his back and used two of its tentacles to touch Craig’s body, with the bumps along Craig’s hand as if the octopus was getting to know him.
“Creative deception”
When the octopus opened up to him, his fear turned to trust. It no longer used its remaining tentacles to cling to its burrow; it emerged, swimming with him into the ocean. Craig says the octopus sometimes changed its body texture, growing horns or changing color to suit its surroundings. One he found cute was when it acted like a rock or seaweed being swept away by the current, but was actually using its two tentacles as legs to walk along the sand. The octopus was beautiful, intelligent, and gliding along with the water.
Day – 52 Mistakes that destroy trust
Because he dives alone, he has to be prepared at all times. On the day he built trust and a relationship between him and the octopus, he made a mistake. He made a big mistake while swimming forward to explore the ocean floor with the octopus swimming after him everywhere. It was an indescribable feeling. Until his camera lens fell down. Suddenly, the octopus ran away from him in fear. Even though he went to look for it at the main burrow where it lived, he found that it was no longer there.
“Is it possible to track animals that are experts at hiding underwater?”
Craig came home disappointed. At first he thought he would never see the octopus again, but then he thought of the best tracker he had ever met. He started studying the tracks of sea creatures, whether they were octopuses, crabs, fish, sea urchins, or any other sea creature that could leave a mark. After several weeks, he finally saw the octopus again. The moment he saw it, it was like meeting an old friend. The octopus came out of its hiding place and crawled towards him without fear. Even though he backed away a little, it still followed him. It clung to his hand with all its body. Even when he tried to swim to the surface, it still clung to him with trust.
Day – 104 She sparked every doubt in me.
He was obsessed with the octopus. He went home to read as many scientific journals about the octopus as he could. He wondered what it was thinking, what it was doing, even what it was dreaming about when it slept. One night, he dived down to spy on it at night and found out that it was the octopus’s hunting time. That night, it caught about 3 fish and then went back to its burrow as usual.
Day – 125 No matter how much I want to help, I can’t disrupt the life cycle of animals.
Today, the shark brings the octopus to see the shark. Craig can’t help himself from interfering with the animal’s hunt, because it’s wrong. He can only watch the octopus survive the shark. At the end of the chase scene, it takes one of the octopus’s tentacles and swims away.
“I felt as if my arms or legs were being ripped off by its tentacles.”
It was hard to escape the guilt, but he really couldn’t cross the line and interfere. He went to see it, monitoring its condition every day. The octopus looked very weak and exhausted. Its body was turning pale. He could only pray that today would not be the last day he saw it.
Day – 134 You will get through the tough times, just like me.
After losing one of the octopus’s tentacles, it began to regrow and grow new tentacles. In this moment of weakness, it made him reflect on how difficult it was before he met the octopus, but now he got through it because of it, and he hoped that it would get through this situation as well.
Day – 250 Confidence returns
After about 100 days, the squid’s new tentacles have fully grown, and its hunting confidence has returned. It hunts crabs, lobsters and clams strategically, although it may take it almost a week to catch the lobster. By knowing how to plan, hide and deceive, it’s amazing who taught it these things?
Day – 304 In balance, a hunter is needed.
We cannot escape the cycle of predation because predators are one of the things that keep the balance. Today, the predation is back again. The Pajama shark smelled the squid. It fled into the rocks, corals and seaweed. When it was found, the Pajama shark bit its tentacles. At that moment, Craig could not hold his breath any longer. He had to swim up for air and come back down as quickly as possible. The amazing thing is, it survived!
“It’s better than that shark.”
Day – 324 I was watching a solitary animal playing with a school of fish, and it came up to me to give me its final touch.
That day he went diving and found the squid in the shallow water. It used its tentacles to brush through the water, passing the fish that were swooping past it. At first he thought it was hunting, but it was daytime and it swam through the water, using its tentacles in a relaxed manner, without any strategy as usual. Craig then realized that it was not hunting, it was just playing with the fish. After a while, it got tired of playing with the fish and swam over to cling to him with its whole body instead. He knew that this was the squid’s last goodbye hug.
“I have never seen an invertebrate or anything like a mollusk sacrifice itself for its young.”
It was a windy day and the water was covered with sediment. It was a rare sight. Two octopuses were sitting next to each other. Yes, they were mating. After that, the octopuses would stop eating or hunting. They would lie deep in their burrows. Craig would go and check on them every day, even though he knew that the octopuses’ last days were coming. And finally, the day when the hundred thousand or so octopuses came out to swim with the currents, that was the day he lost the octopuses forever.
What I have learned
“Our lives are strangely like a mirror of each other.”
Burnout is inevitable in this situation. Craig is another one who has this symptom. He doesn’t even want to touch the camera or the program that he used to love, because now he hates it. He came to learn that the life of the octopus reflects his life of hardship. You know, in fact, the suffering is reflected from the misery that the family had to go through from his symptoms. If we want to know how we are, try looking at the people around us. Their eyes will be a mirror that tells us how you are right now.
“A squid’s strategy is shaped by the number of prey it hunts.”
The octopus that Craig studied, it didn’t have parents to teach it. It grew up in isolation, but it hunted its prey intelligently, with good planning and strategy. It’s amazing that octopuses can do this by themselves. It learns from its own actions. The results of each hunt will create a strategy for the next hunt. It’s not just octopuses that can do this. People can also learn from their own actions. Learn from right and wrong, from mistakes, from success, to create a great strategy for the next battle. Because no one is born knowing everything, and no one can teach us everything. If we want to be successful, we have to learn how to do it ourselves.
“The octopus taught me to appreciate everything around me, no matter how small it is.”
Craig’s relationship with the octopus makes us unconsciously add value to the octopus while watching the movie. But the truth is, we don’t have to wait for any creature to play a role in our lives to have value. Every living thing on Earth, no matter how big or small, has its own value from the beginning. And every living thing is equally valuable enough to be valued without being overlooked.
“The octopus taught me to understand being part of that place, not just a visitor.”
You know, the status between a “visitor” and a “part of the area” is different. At first, Craig was just a visitor to it. He had to prove himself, build trust, that he wasn’t just there to visit its nature, but to be a part of its nature. People go into nature just to get benefits, without ever thinking about being a part of it. It’s a Give and Take. We have to give, so we can receive.
Conclusion
Because humans have evolved, have technology, and have created many changes in the world, sometimes humans themselves are infatuated that they are the most valuable creatures and devalue other creatures in nature. No matter what impact it has on any creature, it doesn’t matter because humans themselves still live comfortably. We lack care, lack compassion, and lack awareness of the things around us. Many creatures exist to create a balance in this world, but humans have taken advantage of and oppressed them until some became extinct, some became less in number, and some died in large numbers. It’s time to change. Pay attention to the creatures around you. Value every creature as if we are fellow creatures on this planet. No matter how small or large the creature is, no one deserves to be oppressed.
“Every living thing is part of this world. Treat yourself as a part of it, not a visitor.”
Today, Craig still goes out on the water to explore nature every day, but he is no longer alone. He co-founded the Sea Change Project, a community of divers dedicated to protecting the seaweed in the ocean for the rest of their lives.
My Octopus Teacher | Official Trailer | Netflix
