Day 1 | Are You Stronger Than An Octopus?

As you may have noticed, we’re a bit different here at Fringe, and in keeping with this theme, we’ve decided to provide you with cool octopus facts over the next 8 days leading up to the release of something very special & TOP SECRET 🤫... Can you guess the surprise? Put your guesses in the comments section!

I’ve been a big fan of the octopus for many years, so I was happy to hear about our coming octopus-themed surprise.

It helps that I tried once to become a marine biologist (math and chemistry suck), used to scuba dive, lived in Florida on 2 separate stays for 7 years, and caught a live octopus once.

I caught the little guy with a net in Marathon, Florida in the Keys. I put him in a cooler full of saltwater and watched every one of his moves, until he squirted his ink in anger, and I decided it was best to release him safely back into his world.

It wasn’t until reading The Soul of an Octopus last year by Sy Montgomery, that I realized just how hard it is to capture a live octopus. I got pretty lucky that sweltering, humid day in the Caribbean.

The book brought my appreciation of octopuses to a whole new level. Which by the way, octopuses is the correct plural form, NOT octopi, as octopus is a Greek word, so the Latin plural doesn't apply.

The book explores the consciousness of octopuses, or the potential for sentience, which isn’t something all that unheard of.

Over recent years, entire countries have recognized the sentience of animals and the octopus arguably leads the charge.

This may sound outlandish at first, but know that American law is moving towards treating pets like people, especially in regards to custody of pets after a divorce.

So the next time you look at an octopus, realize that while you’re thinking about it, it may be thinking about you.

When you’re thinking about that cephalopod, here is the first of 8 cool octopus facts to keep in mind that will lift you beyond the ordinary.

  "I'm suck on you."

Fact #1 The Curiously Strong Mollusk

The octopus’ strength is the source of our love affair. They’re sneaky strong, much like an Altoid. How strong?

Octopuses are regarded as quite strong for their size. They’re capable of lifting objects many times their own body weight.

A giant Pacific octopus can easily overpower a man. Why?

Giant Pacific octopuses can have up to 1,600 suckers on their arms.

Females generally have 2 inch wide suckers while males’ suckers can grow up to 3 inches in width.

James Wood, webmaster of The Cephalopod Page calculated that a 2.5” sucker can lift 35 lb of weight.

35 lb multiplied by 1,600, gives a giant Pacific octopus a 56,000 lb sucking capacity aka a quarter TON of force.

That kind of power is something we respect over here at Fringe Sport HQ. Stay tuned for more octopus facts and don't forget, we're just 8 days away from our surprise!!