I was mugged by an octopus!
Alanah Kilner, 24, Mount Eliza, Vic
As the creature moved its tentacles, I was in awe. The octopus had suction cups as big as 50 cent coins and the colour of its skin was changing from orange to white. I have to film this! I thought, grabbing my GoPro camera. I work as a dive master and was scuba diving at Blairgowrie Pier, Vic, with a group of kids.
As I watched its tentacles ripple the water, the octopus suddenly backed away into a nearby hole in the rocks. Wanting to get a closer look, I edged toward the hole with my camera.
Just then, a long tentacle reached out.
The octopus had mugged me of my GoPro!
Before I knew it, my hand was empty and I saw my camera disappear into the darkness. The octopus had mugged me of my GoPro! In shock, I peered into the darkness to see if I could grab it back, but it was nowhere to be found. I was at the back of my dive group, so no-one had seen the slippery thief. They swam on, so I had no choice but to leave my camera behind.
When I got to the surface,
I told my dive buddy Isabelle what happened. She couldn’t believe the cheek of it.
‘Maybe it will turn up,’ she said.
But I doubted I’d ever see my camera again.
Later that night, I went snorkelling back at the pier with my boyfriend Tom, 22, but had no luck. I was gutted. Not only had my GoPro cost $600 but it contained hours of footage.
Putting my own feelers out, I contacted local dive shops asking them to look out for it. I also posted about it on Facebook.Soon I started hearing stories from other divers about that very same octopus under the pier.
We couldn’t find your camera, but we did find some fishing gear stashed in its hole, wrote a fellow diver
on Facebook. It seemed the sea creature didn’t just steal cameras!
A month later, I got a call from a lady named Kerry.
‘I was diving near the pier when I found a GoPro. I think it’s yours,’ she told me. I couldn’t believe it! She’d heard about my story and got my number from the dive shop where I work.
A few days later I got the camera back from her and was able to see the incredible footage for myself. It was so funny watching the criminal creature reach out and snatch it!
I still can’t believe I got mugged by an octopus!
Originally published in that's life! Issue 22, 2016.
