A diver found himself in a tug of war with a camera-hungry octopus.
The eight-foot-long octopus appeared to be a rock as it camouflaged with a rock; the animal popped up and wrapped its tentacles around the camera, the New York Daily News reported.
"I wasn't too worried. Generally they are not too interested in people. They'll just take off," diver Warren Murray, 56, , a professional scuba and underwater photography instructor told the Daily News. "I was thinking he would take off as soon as I got close to it. When he wasn't moving, I was excited."
Murray and his diving partner David Malvestuto have uncountable diving stories; but nobody in the diving community believes them unless it is caught on camera.
"I was thinking (about that rule) in the back of my mind," Murray told the Daily News. "I wanted to capture as many pictures as I could."
Smaller octopi are common in the region (Bluefish Cove in Carmel, Calif.) but animals of this size are usually found in deeper waters.
The octopus maintained a strong grip on the camera; Murray was worried the animal was strong enough to break his fingers. The octopus swam away then the camera's flash went off. Murray believes the octopus may have been initially attracted to the camera because it saw its reflection and believed the object was another octopus. Octopus' usually do not attack unless they are threatened.
"I was a little concerned ... but we both knew they are harmless," Malvestuto. 34, told the Daily News. "He was very cool and collected. I wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen."
The divers said they did not realize how amazing the interaction was until looking back at their footage.
"We can say we did all of these things but we made sure we had the video and pictures to prove it," he said.
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