Unit 3 Nature Connections
My Octopus Teacher
I returned to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, where I had spent my childhood, after ____ 20 years of movie-making.
I went diving in the cold sea off the coast of the Cape, and ____ was among the dense seaweed 5 forests where I met an octopus.
____ Encounter
I saw ____ fish peacefully swimming near a heap of shells.
Suddenly, an octopus ____ from the heap and grabbed the fish.
Amazed ____ the cleverness of the octopus, I swam a little closer, but it disappeared.
In fact, it had lifted a piece of seaweed, wrapped it ____ around itself, and was staring at me out of a little gap.
What an ____ creature!
I wondered what would happen ____ I kept watching it.
To see the world from the ____ perspective, I left a camera near the den and started visiting regularly.
I ____ mapped the environment around the den.
Expecting some ____ to come, I waited.
Making Friends
The octopus became less scared as ____ visited more often.
After about ____ month, it came near me.
I put my hand out, ____ it reached out to me.
After another week, it started to wave like a human ____ saying, “Hi, I’m excited to see you.”
I kept still, and ____ covered my whole hand.
Since I had to ____ a breath, I swam toward the surface.
To my surprise, it rode on my hand all the ____ to the top.
There I was, just staring into the eyes of this ____ creature.
____ sparked my curiosity in a way that I had not experienced before.
Had I ____ its trust?
I started reading books about octopuses, but I wanted to learn more ____ this marvelous creature.
The first thing I learned was that “it” ____ a “she.”
Getting Closer
Danger in the form of pyjama sharks, the ____ biggest predators, came with little warning in the sea.
The octopus was moving around near the edge of the seaweed forest, ____ I saw a shark tracking her.
In an ____ she swam into a crack to escape, but the shark was faster.
The shark had taken a bite of one of her arms and was ____ for her.
I wanted to ____ my friend, but in this environment, I could only observe.
She managed to get deeper into the ____ but she was bleeding.
After a while, the shark lost interest, and the octopus used ____ opportunity to get back to her den, without one of her arms.
She was in serious danger because her arms function like the hands, legs, ____ and eyes of humans.
The next day, I was ____ to see that she had survived.
She was weak, and her colors were not ____ bright.
I checked on her every day, wondering if that day ____ be the last.
It was emotionally painful to ____ these things happening to her.
Recovery, Growth, and Sacrifice
A short while later, I saw ____ the wound had healed.
To my amazement, a little arm started to grow back, and she started to become ____ again.
I started to compare my life to life in ____ unforgiving sea.
I thought of what was valuable ____ life.
I ____ to spend more time with my family and friends, and I even started to dive with my young son.
He became just as interested in her as I ____
As the octopus’s arm became more ____ I felt things in my life were improving too.
An octopus’s average life is about a year, which ____ after reproducing.
One day, eight months after meeting her, ____ found her with another octopus.
It was bittersweet knowing her final days were ____ even though she would bear young.
After mating, ____ didn’t come out of her den.
There ____ be no feeding or hunting.
She was timing her final moments for the hatching of ____ eggs.
After the eggs ____ she died.
A few months later, my son found a little ____
____ believe her story continues on.
I fell in love ____ an octopus and the amazing wildness she represented.
I built a ____ with her and witnessed her life up to the final moments.
I saw her from a perspective that I could not have had ____ this experience.
She was smart, sensitive, and strong, often going through rough and tough days just ____ humans do.
Eventually, she committed ____ to protecting the birth of her young before she died.
As a human ____ I found something noble in that sacrifice.
She was not simply an octopus; she was a part of this world ____ as I am a part of it now, and in that sense, we all have our own stories to tell.