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