Brett Stones, one of the witnesses who saw the event, saw up for 25 of the cephalopods crawling up the sand of New Quay Beach last Friday night. Strangely, similar incidents occurred 3 nights in a row.
As they are unable to survive for very long outside of the water, it is quite unusual behaviour for the octopuses. Some have suggested there may be something wrong with their habitat, or they may have been injured or confused by recent storms.
“It was a bit like an end of days scenario,” said Stones. “There were probably about 20 or 25 on the beach. I have never seen them out of the water like that.”
“Maybe they are getting confused by the bright lights in New Quay harbor and maybe they are dying off after summer or getting knackered after the recent storms.”
“It is really rare to see them.”
