Why are we seeing more octopuses along the South West coast?
The species of octopus that is being spotted in Devon is the Common Octopus. It is the species most likely to be seen by divers and snorkellers around the UK.
But while their name implies they are nothing out of the ordinary, marine experts have told us the more frequent sightings in the region could reveal interesting insight into the state of our natural world.
"The increased sightings could reflect the changing sea conditions in our region", marine officer at the Devon Wildlife Trust, Carli Cocciardi, said.
"South West England is near the northern edge of the Common Octopuses' typical range.
"Recent increases of the octopuses could be linked to climate change, better prey availability and ocean currents."
'The octopus plague'
Experts say octopus population booms in the West Country have happened periodically since the late 1800s.
Dr Keith Hiscock, Associate Fellow at the Marine Biological Association, said there was a "plague" of Common Octopuses in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
"In recent years, we have reported a greater persistence of the species from high numbers in 2022, but then fewer numbers in 2023.
He added: "Now, in 2025, the 'outburst' being reported by fishermen and divers suggests larger numbers being a more persistent feature of our waters.
'We will have to wait and see if this year's abundance of common octopus is - like the 1900 and 1950 outbursts - just a one year wonder.
"However, they have stuck around the last few years and the finding of a dead female with her hatched eggs in a deep fissure at Porthkerris two year ago was significant - they are breeding in our waters.'
A 'highly intelligent predator'
Octopuses are known for being effective hunters, with unique biological adaptions.
Ms Cocciardi said: "Octopuses are highly intelligent predators. "They have a parrot-like beak that can break into the shells of crabs and lobsters.
"They also inject venom that paralyses their prey and breaks down the soft tissue, turning it into a soup that they can suck out."
"They're also known for their ability to squeeze into tiny spaces and change colour to blend into their surroundings.
"They can instantly change colour from grey to yellow, brown, or green, blending into rocky coasts, shallow waters, and hide 200 metres below the water's surface."
Octopuses are climate change 'winners'
Alix Harvey, Ecology Laboratory and Research Aquarium Manager at the Marine Biological Association, said:"Globally cephalopods (Cephalopoda such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish) are generally 'winners' when it comes to changing seas, even with issues like climate change and overfishing.
"Their short lifespan, rapid reproduction and intelligence allows them to exploit new environments."
What impact does the rising number of octopuses have on marine life?
Fishers in the region are reporting that their shellfish catch has plummeted, primarily due to the octopuses entering their crab pots, eating the shellfish and then exiting, leaving them with little to no catch.
A unique Devon bylaw requires some crab pots to have "escape holes" to protect young shellfish.
These holes typically allow young shellfish to escape but they are also providing a gap for octopuses to enter pots, consume the catch, and escape,The Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) who is responsible for this unique bylaw, has responded with emergency measures, temporarily allowing fishermen to close escape hatches when specifically targeting octopus, provided they release any captured crabs or lobsters.
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Times
3 days ago
- Times
How a flood of cheap British octopus is changing restaurant menus
They've been described as the Einsteins of the sea and are so intelligent they can navigate mazes and use tools. But today, the common octopus is finding its way onto the plates of diners across the country after an influx of the cephalopods to British oceans not seen for 75 years. The sudden increase, known as an octopus 'bloom', is primarily due to warming ocean temperatures caused by climate change. The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) is usually found in the Mediterranean, while Britain's cooler waters are typically home to the curled octopus (Eledone cirrhosa). 'We had an unusually warm winter this year,' said Bryce Stewart, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. 'Those warm temperatures have continued through the spring and into summer, which favours the common octopus as it's a warm-water species.' Analysis of Met Office data suggests the average surface temperature of UK waters in the first seven months of the year was more than 0.2C higher than any year since 1980. Stewart said this year's bloom was the largest since 1950. 'Fishermen started to see more octopus off the south coast of England in 2022 and then more again in 2023. It eased off last year but this year numbers have exploded,' he said. In June, the Marine Management Organisation recorded 400 tonnes of octopuses caught off the British coast, compared with about ten tonnes in the same month last year. Last month provisional figures showed it was almost 500. Stewart's team is working with the University of Plymouth to track the octopuses, using underwater cameras in the hope of predicting future blooms. But for British restaurateurs, the increase has created a unique opportunity to use what was previously a prohibitively expensive ingredient. Rick Toogood, head chef of Little Prawn in Padstow, Cornwall, and Prawn on the Lawn in Islington, north London, said that serving octopus previously meant importing it frozen from Spain at up to £20 per kg. 'Now that there is quite a bit of octopus it's come down to around £11 per kilogram,' he said. 'We obviously want to source as much as we can from our shores and this means if we want to put octopus on the menu we can get British-caught pretty much whenever we want it.' Toogood said the rising ocean temperature also meant an increase in other fish used to warmer waters, including bluefin tuna. On Thursday afternoon he received a 40kg bluefin that would have cost more than £1,200 last year. This time he only paid £650. Isaac McHale, the head chef and co-owner of Bar Valette in Shoreditch, east London, said he had also been serving up an abundance of tuna, but the star of the show became the octopus once he heard of the bloom at the start of the summer. 'Octopus is typically not very common in the UK so we don't have this history of eating octopus,' he said. McHale said the curled octopus, which has a single row of suckers on each tentacle, was smaller and tougher than the larger common octopus. In other words, 'not great eating', the chef said. In contrast, the common octopus, which is larger and has two rows of suckers, is versatile enough to be cooked either hot and fast or low and slow. Although the bloom has been a boon for chefs, not everyone has been excited. The common octopus feeds on crustaceans including crabs, lobsters and scallops, whose populations have plummeted on the south coast. Mike Roach, deputy chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, said some vessels in Devon had a 'complete absence of crab and lobster in their catches'. The Marine Management Organisation recorded that the brown crab catch was just over 400 tonnes last month, almost 200 tonnes fewer than the same month in 2023. Roach said the 'short-term influx' of octopus could mean a 'reduction in crustacean and shellfish species that are relatively slow growing and may take a long time to recover from this bloom of new predators'. In May, the octopus bloom forced Plymouth city council to relax regulations that required fishermen to include a small gap in lobster and crab pots for undersized crustaceans to escape through. Because octopuses don't have bones, they are able to squeeze through tiny holes to feast on the shellfish inside. • How the ocean has changed in Attenborough's 99 years (it's not all bad) Animal rights campaigners are also concerned. In 2022, parliament recognised the highly intelligent octopus as a 'sentient being' as part of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act. Elisa Allen, vice-president of programmes for the campaign group Peta, said: 'These extraordinary animals deserve our respect and to be left in peace, not pieces.' The bloom is unlikely to last for long because the overabundance of octopuses is rapidly depleting their main food source by gorging on lobsters, crabs and shellfish. But while it continues, chefs such as Toogood will continue finding inventive ways to serve it up to hungry diners. At Little Prawn, he cooks the octopus with aromatics for two hours until tender. He then slices it and uses a blowtorch to give it a smoky flavour, before serving it with fresh tomatoes and an olive brine. Each octopus salad dish costs £13.50 and the chef said it was 'incredibly popular'. McHale said it was important to thoroughly clean the suckers with salt and water before cooking. 'Then you slowly dip the tendrils into a large pot of boiling water over and over again, which helps the tentacles to curl in an attractive way,' he said. At Bar Valette, McHale boils them for an hour before finishing them on a barbecue. At The Clove Club, he serves it alongside arroz brut, a rice soup from Mallorca. McHale said he hoped the inflated octopus supply lasted a little longer. 'Part of the joy of being a chef is getting to play with new ingredients and find ways that you can make them delicious,' he said. 'Octopus is one of those things that most people in the UK might turn their noses up at. But it's nice to change their perceptions and show that it can be really delicious.'
BBC News
23-07-2025
- BBC News
Climate change driving octopus surge, says Plymouth scientist
A dramatic surge in octopus numbers along the South West coast of the UK is being linked to climate lucrative octopus bloom has led to a dramatic fall in the number of shellfish such as crab, lobsters and scallops which the octopus preys long-term consequences for the region's shellfish industry are now concerning those in the fishing Bryce Stewart, a marine ecologist with the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, said the octopus bloom was likely to be the result of unusually warm sea temperatures and shifting ocean currents, both driven by global climate change. "This year has seen an explosion in octopus numbers, particularly in Cornwall," Dr Stewart said. "Fishermen first started noticing more octopus in 2022 and while numbers dipped slightly last year, 2025 has brought a dramatic increase."The species in question, the European or Mediterranean octopus (Octopus vulgaris), is typically associated with warmer with sea temperatures in the South West reaching up to 4C above normal this year - an "unbelievably warm" anomaly, according to Dr Stewart - conditions have become increasingly favourable for their reproduction and survival, he said."Even a one or two degree rise can have a huge impact on marine life which are ectothermic and rely on the surrounding water to regulate their body temperature," he said."Octopus breed in spring and summer and warmer temperatures during those months help their eggs and young develop more successfully," Dr Stewart explained. "But what's really crucial is the winter temperature. "Normally, cold winters would kill off many of the young but this past winter was exceptionally warm, allowing more to survive." Dr Stewart thinks that octopus have now become a feature of the local warming trend is part of a broader ecological shift, he said. "We're seeing more Mediterranean species in UK waters and fewer cold-water species like cod, haddock and pollock," Dr Stewart said. "The ecosystem is changing rapidly and that is directly tied to climate change."For shell-fishermen like Alan Steer, who works out of Beesands in Devon, the impact has been immediate and severe."We'd never seen an octopus five years ago," he said. "Now, since February, it's been an explosion. "They're devastating the shellfish we rely on. Crabs and lobsters are being eaten in the pots before we can land them." Mr Steer, vice chair of South Devon and Channel Shell-fishermen, estimates his catch has dropped by at least 60% this summer, with some pots coming up filled only with empty scallop shells and fragments of crab and lobster. "It's been dramatic," he said. "We already had a slight decline over the last two years but this year, with the octopus, it's just dropped off a cliff."While some fishermen have managed to sell octopus to new markets, others are struggling. "The vessels that haven't been catching octopus but are still seeing a drop in crab and lobster are having a very, very difficult time," he said. "Some boats have already left the industry."Mr Steer and others are now experimenting with octopus-specific pots that do not require costly crab bait but uncertainty remains. "We're trying a few but we don't know if this is something we can invest in wholeheartedly without knowing the science behind whether they're going to be here for very long," he said. Dr Stewart is leading a new study funded by Defra, Plymouth City Council and Devon County Council to understand the phenomenon."We'll know more in six months but it's clear that climate change is reshaping our coastal ecosystems in real time," he now, Mr Steer is cautiously adapting, testing new pot designs aimed at catching octopus with an eye on history which has shown that blooms like this have lasted a few years and then vanished, leaving shellfish stocks depleted for years afterwards."I've been calling myself an octopus fisherman for the last six months," he said. "It's been good to us so far this year and I hope we can keep going. "But if they disappear, I think we're in for some very tough times."
North Wales Live
09-07-2025
- North Wales Live
Swarms of monster jellyfish invading North Wales beaches with visitors warned to get prepared
Monster jellyfish are likely to wash up on Welsh beaches in growing numbers in the coming years, a marine expert has warned. With the UK currently in the grip of a marine heatwave, warmer waters will bring larger - and more dangerous - sea creatures closer to coastlines. This summer, social media has been awash with photos of jumbo jellyfish on Gwynedd's west coast beaches. In recent weeks, giants have also begun washing up on the North Wales coast in Conwy. A few have been reported on Rhyl beach, Denbighshire. On Monday, July 7, Manchester visitor Lisa Whittaker came across several on Rhos on Sea beach. Valiantly she tried to slide one back into the water but she gave up after realising it was probably dead already. Stranded jellyfish are 95% water and they rapidly dehydrate when exposed to wind and sun. 'Never in my life have I seen one like it - and probably never again,' she marvelled. 'Impressively enormous' jellyfish have also been reported on Colwyn Bay beach. Local woman Dawn Roberts was left 'shocked' by one, saying: 'Never seen one so big in my life!' All were barrel jellyfish, a British native that are the giants of the jellyfish world. Strandings are not uncommon on Welsh beaches but, anedotally, people are reporting every bigger specimens. Certainly, feeding conditions this year have been ideal. UK waters are currently experiencing their second major heatwave off 2025, with sea surface temperatures currently well above average in the Celtic Sea, English Channel and southern North Sea. Anomalies of 1.5C-3C above the 1982-2012 average have been registered, with readings of 17C-20C recorded in the English Channel. These sea temperatures are more typical of early August in the late 20th century, said the Met Office. The Marine Biological Association, and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Sciences, fear warming waters are putting marine ecosystems at risk. Harmful algal blooms are possible and species such as mussels, oysters and salmon could become stressed. Others, like bluefin tuna, sea bass, stingrays and jellyfish may thrive and expand their range. Frankie Hobro, director of Anglesey Sea Zoo, has long warned of this scenario, having seen some remarkable water temperature rises at the facility's sea intake pipe. 'We're now turning on our water chillers in May," she said. "Ten years ago it was in July. Not only are we starting them earlier, we're having to keep them going for longer.' She suspects barrel jellyfish are not getting larger – we are just seeing more of them. 'They are always big specimens out in deep waters,' she said. 'But as the sea warms they're venturing closer to coastlines, and so we're seeing more of these bigger jellyfish washing up.' Equally possible is a change in the way strandings are being reported. As North Wales beaches become busier, especially in warmer years, more shorelines sightings are likely. 'With more people going to the coast, and swimming in our waters, it's inevitable that more specimens will be seen,' said Frankie. Irrespective of size, barrel jellyfish are mostly harmless, capable of delivering a nettle-like sting at worst. Others are not, and Frankie is particularly alarmed by the growing numbers of Portugese man 'o war jellyfish being reported. 'This was once an occasional visitor, in late August and September,' she said. 'Any that washed up were usually teeny. Now they've become seasonal visitors, perhaps for several weeks, and we're seeing them earlier in the summer, pushed up by warmer currents and breezes from the Atlantic. 'They have long tentacles and their stings are nasty, very unpleasant. Unlike box jellyfish, the stings are unlikely to be fatal, but Portugese man 'o war are definitely the second nastiest jellyfish in the sea.' As Britain's seas warm, and become more dangerous, Frankie believes there needs to be a change in mindset among beach visitors. As well as wearing suitable attire, knowledge of marine first aid will have to improve. 'We've always been a bit blasé about swimming or paddling in the sea,' she said. 'Whereas people arriving here from overseas are more used to the dangers and come prepared. 'You can get sunburnt in the water very quickly and, with new threats emerging, my advice would be to always cover up.' If wet suits are not an option, then quick-drying UV rash vests should be a starting point, she said. Frankie also advises swim boots or socks. 'The surf zone, where jellyfish are spun around like a washing machine, is where you're most likely to get stung,' she said. 'Ankles are therefore the most vulnerable. 'Footwear is always a good idea not just because of weever fish in the sand, which can cause excruciating pain, but also to avoid things like razor clams and glass.' If you are stung – either by jellyfish or tiny weever fish – Frankie cautions against old wives tales. 'Peeing on the sting site is not a good idea and may make it worse,' she said. Instead, sting sites should be treated with vinegar – the acid quickly denatures sting cells. Lemon juice is another option. 'Always keep a couple of venegar sachets from chip shops in the car or beach bag,' she said. If bits of tentacles have attached to the skin, a credit card can be used to squeeze them off. Ice will help cool the burning sensation and anti-histamines will ease the pain. 'Jellyfish are sensitive to changes in osmotic pressure, so be careful not to touch them,' Frankie added. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox Other emerging threats include exotics that were once occasional vagrants in UK waters, such as trigger fish, pufferfish and sunfish, said Frankie. The Shortfin mako, the world's fastest swimming shark, is already making itself more at home in the UK.
