WATCH: Octopus nabs crab from fisherman in viral video
It was a rough day out at sea for this crab fisherman whose entire catch was stolen from underneath him by a brainy octopus looking for an easy meal.
Footage released on Sunday by the BBC Earth program Super Smart Animals shows a fisherman named Steve throwing out traps in an effort to catch a haul of crabs.
More than 200,000 people have watched this mollusk outsmart Steve in the viral YouTube video.
Lured in by the smell of food, the crustaceans that walk into the cage lack the brain power to figure out how to escape.
It seems like a perfect plan for a fisherman to catch some shellfish, except a far more creative creature lurking on the ocean floor has figured out how to use these traps to its advantage — the giant Pacific octopus.
Sporting an enormous brain and the ability to problem solve, the large invertebrate has discovered it can get a free meal by simply entering the trap and munching away at the helpless crabs inside.
With a graveyard of crab remains surrounding the area, it’s clear this isn’t the first time this well-fed octopus has pulled this particular con job.
Unlike the crabs, the octopus is actually able to figure out how to escape the trap moments before it’s hauled back up to the surface.
With nothing more than few empty crab shells for his trouble, it looks like fisherman Steve might have to go back to the drawing board if he’s going to be a match against the cunning ingenuity of this octopus.
But Steve shouldn’t feel too embarrassed because this isn’t the first time an octopus has used its impressive brain power to pull a fast one over humans.
Take for example Inky, a common New Zealand octopus, who made headlines in April 2016 after pulling a daring escape from his tank at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.
Inky left his handlers scratching their heads after managing to slip out of the open lid of his enclosure and across the floor before slithering down a nearby drain pipe leading out to the ocean.
