OCTOPUS’S GARDEN (TAKE 9) IN THE BAHAMAS

We are back again under the sea, warm below the storm, with an eight-limbed companion in its little hideaway beneath the waves.

It’s impossible to imagine anyone failing to engage with these extraordinary, intelligent creatures as they move around the reef. Except for octopodophobes, I suppose. I’ve written about octopuses quite a lot, yet each time I get to look at a new batch of images, I feel strangely elated that such a intricate, complex animal can exist.

While examining the photo above, I took a closer look bottom left at the small dark shape. Yes my friends, it is (as you feared) a squished-looking seahorse,

The kind of image a Scottish bagpiper should avoid seeing Octopus (Melinda Riger - Grand Bahama Scuba)

OPTIONAL MUSICAL DIGRESSION

With octopus posts I sometimes (rather cornily, I know) feature the Beatles’ great tribute to the species, as voiced with a delicacy and tunefulness that only Ringo was capable of. There’s some fun to be had from the multi-bonus-track retreads currently so popular. These ‘extra features’ include alternative mixes, live versions and – most egregious of all except for the most committed – ‘Takes’. These are the musical equivalent of a Picasso drawing that he botched or spilt his wine over and chucked in the bin, from which his agent faithfully rescued it (it’s now in MOMA…)

You might enjoy OG Take 9, though, for the chit chat and Ringo’s endearingly off-key moments.