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Tech

Watch an Octopus Beat Up a Shark and Steal Its Lunch

So you’re sitting there watching all of these fish nibble away at an underwater baited camera setup like some peaceful screensaver from the 90s. Then a small shark starts to hang out. It’s not a scary shark, just a chill little dude looking for a snack...

So you’re sitting there watching all of these fish nibble away at an underwater baited camera setup like some peaceful screensaver from the 90s. Then a small shark starts to hang out. It’s not a scary shark, just a chill little dude looking for a snack. Right as you start to thinking how you’d love to pet that shark, all of a sudden a giant freaking octopus comes out of nowhere, assaults said chill shark, and starts munching away. What a jerk!

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This video comes from Save Our Seas’ baited remote underwater video (BRUV) project in False Bay, South Africa. It’s a pretty elegant setup for studying biodiversity: Set up some food and a camera, and let the fish come to you. It also has huge potential for outreach, something that any good researcher knows is crucial. So, yes, enjoy the video above, but then go check out the False Bay project blog to learn about why taking pictures of lobsters is serious business.

Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead.