VICTORIA - A Victoria-area woman says she watched a life-and-death struggle between an octopus and a seagull — and the octopus won.
Ginger Morneau was taking a stroll along Victoria's Ogden Point breakwater when she happened upon the battle between the gull and the almost metre-long octopus.
Morneau, her husband and brother watched in fascination as the deep-sea creature wrapped its arms around the bird and pulled it underwater.
"The first winter Glaucous-winged Gull was struggling, flapping its wings in an attempt to break the octopus’s grip, but without success. The octopus’s eight tentacled arms allowed it to cling firmly to the rocks and simultaneously maintain its grasp on to the gull."
The blog also cheekily points out that the incident may have been a case of poor judgement on the gull's part.
"Gulls will eat octopus, given the opportunity. There’s a decent possibility that the victim in this story might have even been pecking at the octopus before Ginger and her family happened by."
She says the chilling incident took less than 55 seconds, but she had enough time to snap some stunning photographs (see more photos of the attack below), which are now in demand by nature magazines and have become Internet sensations.
Morneau describes the event as creepy, but still a thrilling West Coast experience.
She says the trio celebrated their adventure later with a calamari appetizer.
With files from the Huffington Post Canada
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Photographer Ginger Morneau snapped these photos of a giant pacific octopus attacking and eating a seagull. (Ginger Morneau/<a href="http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2012/04/27/who%E2%80%99s_up_for_lunch_a_gull_eating_octopus_in_victoria_bc" target="_hplink">BirdFellow</a>)
Photographer Ginger Morneau snapped these photos of a giant pacific octopus attacking and eating a seagull. (Ginger Morneau/<a href="http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2012/04/27/who%E2%80%99s_up_for_lunch_a_gull_eating_octopus_in_victoria_bc" target="_hplink">BirdFellow</a>)
Photographer Ginger Morneau snapped these photos of a giant pacific octopus attacking and eating a seagull. (Ginger Morneau/<a href="http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2012/04/27/who%E2%80%99s_up_for_lunch_a_gull_eating_octopus_in_victoria_bc" target="_hplink">BirdFellow</a>)
Photographer Ginger Morneau snapped these photos of a giant pacific octopus attacking and eating a seagull. (Ginger Morneau/<a href="http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/2012/04/27/who%E2%80%99s_up_for_lunch_a_gull_eating_octopus_in_victoria_bc" target="_hplink">BirdFellow</a>)
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I dunno, as a fisherman some fish have incredibly thick bones and birds have hollow bones. Also a octopus's favorite meal is a lobster, so they probly munch on hard stuff all the time...
Pata_Locs: I dunno, as a fisherman some fish have incredibly thick
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CP | By The Canadian Press Posted: 05/02/2012 4:33 pm Updated: 05/03/2012 4:10 pm