A child’s recent encounter with an octopus at the San Antonio Aquarium in Texas has left his mother concerned for other children and the animal.
Britney Taryn and her six-year-old son, Leo, visited the aquarium in early July and had done so several times before, but this visit turned out very different, WIFR reported Sunday.
Taryn recalled that “Leo put his arm in the tank, and the octopus wrapped his tentacles around him and wouldn’t let go. So, I tried to get Leo down and out of there, but the octopus came over the tank with us.”
An image shows the mother standing behind her son, whose arm is over the tank with the octopus still attached to him:
Taryn said she called out for help and a worker eventually appeared. However, it took several employees to detach the octopus from her child’s arm.
According to NBC News, the giant Pacific octopus was inside a touch tank and Leo had touched the animal several times in the past. However, that visit left him with small bruises along his arm that can be seen in photos.
Taryn has not called the incident an attack and noted she and her son have since gone back to visit the octopus at the aquarium.
“Still, she says she never received any kind of warning about what the octopus could do before allowing her child to interact with it. She’s taken to social media, she said, to share the warning for others, because while Leo was calm in the situation, other children may not be,” the NBC article said.
Leo said the spots on his arm do not hurt, and his family later learned the creature is in senescence, which means it is nearing the end of its lifespan, per the WIFR article.
Taryn said, “So, we did go say goodbye to it to make sure he [Leo] had a chance for closure. Our biggest goal is to save this octopus and the animals in the aquarium.”
The aquarium recently shared a video about how an octopus can leave bruises on a person. The clip showed the employee tickling and playing with an octopus as she spoke. She noted the animal’s suction cups are very strong and the one she was touching gets excited around people.
@sanantonio_aquarium Let’s talk about her suction cups! #Octopus #GiantPacificOctopus #Marine #MarineBiology #Ocean #Conservation #Nature #Animals #AnimalFacts #MarineBiologist ♬ Ocean – Soft boy
The WIFR article said, “Craig Pelke, director of ectotherms at the San Antonio Zoo, says octopuses are normally gentle. Based on his experience, he believes the octopus that gripped Leo may have been overstimulated. The aquarium was found to be in compliance in its latest inspection report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
