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Who’s more truthful — scientists or politicos?

Dig it: A Giant Pacific Octopus just went totally nonlinear and attacked the hell out of a research submarine. Salmon scientist Mike Wood was piloting the submersible off Vancouver Island when the 99-pound octopus went totally medieval. As the CBC reports:
Wood’s first reaction was to panic, knowing the marine creature can exert a powerful bite.
“I go full reverse and blast him with all these seabed particles,” said Wood, describing the attack shown in the video. “Finally, he lets go and disappears off into the gloom.
“It was desperation. It’s a $200,000 machine, and it’s not insured,” said Wood, who runs SubOceanic Sciences Canada in Duncan, B.C.
The scientists say it’s unsure whether the octopus was curious, hungry, or “looking for a girlfriend.” Or maybe it’s simply the beginnings of the great celaphopodic uprising, when our greater-than-the-biomass-of-humanity invertebrate comrades decide they’re sick of our crap and take control — an uprising for which, as I’ve said time and time again, we are just so not ready.
Anyway, the screenshot above is from Woods’ video of the contretemps, but I can’t seem to find a copy of the video anywhere online. If someone finds it, post a link to the comments area!
(Thanks to Yishay Mor and Erik Weissengruber for this one!)
I'm Clive Thompson, a writer on science, technology, and culture. This blog collects bits of offbeat research I'm running into, and musings thereon.
Currently, I'm a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Wired magazine. I also write for Fast Company and Wired magazine's web site, among other places. Email or AOL IM me (pomeranian99) to say hi or send in something strange!
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