My first encounter with a Giant Pacific octopus was over 50 years ago while riding on a Washington State Ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. Somewhere in the middle of Puget Sound I looked out the window and saw a huge octopus near the surface. I had never seen a real one before but from pictures I knew exactly what it was.

I have never caught one while fishing, but I know people who have. I did harvest a dozen or so during the 1970s while scuba diving. The first one was the largest. About 1973 my cousin Ron Sande and I were diving off Little Dewatto Bay in 35 feet of water when we came across an 8-footer weighing around 40 pounds. The bottom was covered with six-inch-in-diameter rocks and every time we started to bring it up the octopus would grab a few rocks making it more difficult for us. We finally got it in the boat without getting a dangerous bite from its beak, which is venomous and can be very painful or worse. We brought it home and cleaned it, skinned it, boiled it and put it through the meat grinder making some wonderful white meat into burger. We fried up some octopus patties and they were absolutely delicious.

A guy I know used to be a commercial perch fisherman who harvested a lot of large octopus on the Gorst mud flats every spring. A few months after mating, a male octopus dies. Females die soon after the eggs hatch. For some reason a lot of the octopus that spawn in the Bremerton area end up dying at the head of the bay near Gorst every spring, at least they used to when there were lots of them.

One time Steve Thorniley and I were halibut fishing out of Port Angeles. Out in the middle of the Strait is a spot where an under water mountain comes up to about 100 feet from the surface. We saw lots of splashing from that spot and ran the boat over there to see what was going on. To our amazement from 20 feet away we watched a huge sea lion eating the arms off a Giant Pacific octopus. This octopus was really big. The sea lion would rip an arm off and scarf it down while the octopus would head back down. As soon as the arm was swallowed the sea lion would swim down 30 feet or so and bring the octopus back to the surface and rip another arm off. It was a very impressive display from two powerful sea creatures. I don't think I need to tell you who won that battle.

There are more than 100 species of octopus. They have lived in most of the world’s oceans and have survived on earth for millions of years. The Giant Pacific octopus is the largest and lives from California north to Alaska and west to Japan. They have been caught in waters 2,500 feet deep but are usually found at 30 to 400 feet.

These giants can grow to be 300 to 400 pounds and 30 feet from arm tip to arm tip, but are rarely over 100 pounds. Thirty to 70 pounds would be an average weight. Their life span is three to five years, but since they only reproduce once then die I'm guessing there is a sex hormone thing going on with some of these very large octopi that defers their sexual maturity until they are 5 to 10 years old.

They have eight arms and three hearts. Females have 2,240 suckers, and males have 100 fewer because one of his arms is also used for a sexual apparatus to insert sperm into the female's mantle. The extra hearts are for passing more blood over the gills for better oxygen transfer.

An octopus beak is made of keratin, which is a same material as our fingernails. It's the only hard part in the animal's body. That's why they can get themselves through some pretty tight places. An octopus first bites its prey and injects venom to paralyze it. Enzymes begin to break down the animal's protein making it easier for the octopus to use its tongue for feeding.

They typically hide in their dens during the day and hunt at night. They love to eat crab but will eat most shellfish and any fish it can catch. Usually they bring the dead or dying prey back to the safety of the den to eat.

The brain, sense organs, and central nervous systems are the most highly developed of any invertebrate, and they have about the same intelligence as a cat. They also have highly developed eyes that are structurally similar to human eyes but can only see in black and white. Amazingly they have a field of view of almost 360 degrees.

Females lay 30,000 to 100,000 eggs usually in their den and spend the next two to three months or so taking care of them by siphoning a current of water over them to keep them clean and well oxygenated. The female doesn't eat much during this time and dies soon after they hatch.

The young drift with the current and wind for 40 to 90 days near the surface and by then they look like a tiny octopus and head to the bottom to start their fast growth. Few will survive that first year, as they will be food for almost anything that swims.

When giant octopi are in their prime they can eat four percent of their body weight and grow by two percent of their body weight every day.

In order for these intelligent, fascinating marine creatures to survive in Puget Sound they have to have lots of crab and other things to eat. And females tending to their eggs must not be disturbed so all those eggs can hatch. Without the female taking care of the eggs few will hatch.