Baby octopuses are born and swim toward the sea; the story of the octopus mother brings people to tears

This shy big boy is not good with words, yet he loves the ocean, even to the point of a little madness. He can carry a scuba tank and roam aimlessly through the water, and he can also hold a camera day and night, keeping watch on the seabed to quietly observe the ecology. This time, Hung Yu-ting spent half a year, keeping watch every night at Longdong Bay on the Northeast Coast, recording the hatching process of baby octopuses. From the mother octopus guarding the eggs without leaving them for even a step, to the baby octopuses breaking out of the eggs, watching the baby octopuses swim out one by one while the mother octopus silently turns her head to watch her children leave, at that moment, Hung Yu-ting also burst into tears in the ocean, witnessing the beauty and wonder of marine life.

Little octopus facts: An octopus mates only once in its lifetime, usually around February to May each year. A female octopus has only one chance to lay eggs in her life, and the male octopus also dies within a few months after mating. To prevent the children from being washed away by ocean currents or eaten by natural enemies, the mother octopus usually lays eggs under rocks or in caves. The larvae hatch in about 4-8 weeks. During this period, the mother octopus stays by her children without leaving them for even a step, without eating or drinking, until the baby octopuses hatch and leave the nest. After exhausting her strength, the mother octopus then dies.

Meeting the mother octopus, going into the sea every night to guard and record her

"When diving, you only see one kind of perspective. Once you pick up a camera, you observe every aspect of the ecology more carefully." As a computer engineer, Hung Yu-ting fell in love with diving more than ten years ago, stepped into the fantastical world of the ocean, and has been unable to free himself from it ever since. He also worked for two years as a full-time underwater photographer, filming marine life documentaries for the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, accumulating solid photography skills and rich knowledge of marine life.

In May of this year, Hung Yu-ting met a mother octopus that had just finished spawning in the waters off Taiwan's Northeast Coast, and began half a year of recording and filming. "This is a story that belongs to a mother. After the mother octopus lays her eggs, she cares for them tirelessly, watches the baby octopuses be born, and then, exhausted, faces the last mile of her own life."

Octopuses are very intelligent, and during the egg-guarding period they are even more sensitive to their surroundings. To remove her guard, Hung Yu-ting spent a long time building a bond with her. At first, whenever the mother octopus saw a person's shadow, she would cover the eggs layer by layer with her tentacles, and even pile stones at the cave entrance to prevent the outside world from peeking in. Only later, when she gradually became used to the presence of the camera, did she finally let down her guard and allow him to keep her company.

"When filming ecological interactions, you have to minimise disturbance. Once you startle them, the organism's reactions become unnatural. You have to learn to be a ninja, to let it be unable to sense your presence, or even if it does sense you, to get it used to your presence." Just like that, he kept watch over the mother octopus for a full two months. Every night after work, he would grab his diving gear and rush to the seaside, not leaving until late at night.

Dedicated to all "ocean muggles", hoping the public will go from understanding to caring to being willing to act

Hung Yu-ting sighs that although Taiwan is an island, people are generally too far from the sea. "When you mention the sea, what do you think of?" Only fresh and delicious seafood? When you think of octopus, do you think of takoyaki? Besides white sand and bikinis at the beach, did you know that beneath the surface there are also continuous mountain peaks covered in coral?

"Our understanding of Taiwan always seems to fall just a little short." Because of this distance, most ordinary people's knowledge of marine life is mostly at the dining table. When they see issues of ocean pollution, they feel something, but it is hard to put into action. Therefore, he hopes to use a fun and personified approach to help readers resonate with the underwater world, to understand that organisms, like people, have feelings, and further build the public's awareness of marine conservation. "Talking about conservation generally has poor results, because if you do not understand them, you cannot empathise. But once you understand them, you will feel something, care, and mind, and in the end you will be able to take action."

Octopus spawning documentary (English version)