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