Albert Fischer has an eye for detail and an appetite for adventure. During his forays about the Island, he often discovers odd, interesting, unusual or unique things. Luckily he always has his camera ready to document them.

Last week, Bert happened upon a dead octopus that had washed up at Squibnocket Beach. Social media was atwitter and the question on everyone’s mind was: “Is it rare?”

I haven’t heard of any other octopuses found on Island beaches. It is also difficult to find reports of octopuses washing ashore this far north, or being seen in our local waters. The common Atlantic octopus, Octopus vulgaris, is generally a much more southern species, though we are at its northernmost range, so its presence here is possible.

A perfunctory search of octopus and Martha’s Vineyard yields discussions of President Obama’s favorite vacation meal, mentions of an Agricultural Fair ride, a store in Edgartown, and even a reference of the pedestrian crossing sign on Beach Road just after the Lagoon Pond Bridge that has been creatively turned into an octo-person. But not much on the eight-armed animal.

The only discussions of the cephalopod mollusk in Island waters are from reports of offshore fisheries where the occasional small octopuses come up in nets, and from recreational anglers who periodically find small ones in the bellies of fish they have caught. There was also the octopus that was reportedly caught off Menemsha and lived its life in a tank at Little Leona’s pet store.

According to the Peterson Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore, there are two varieties of octopus found in Atlantic waters. The aforementioned common Atlantic octopus is the larger and less warty of the two. This was the one seen by Bert. The other is the smaller offshore octopus, Bathypolypus arcticus, which is quite warty, has a horn over each eye, and prefers the deep sea. 

Octopuses are among the most fascinating creatures known. They have three hearts, eight arms, a bird-like beak, ink that is excreted for their protection and blue blood. They have been called the most intelligent of all invertebrates, and can even regenerate limbs. In fact, books could be written (and many have been) about these magnificent creatures.

The most intriguing of these books, on my to-read list, would be Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. Ms. Montgomery speaks of them with affection explaining, “I have always loved octopuses. No sci-fi alien is so startlingly strange.” She describes her time spent with individual animals: “To get to know someone so different from myself as an octopus, and to know that the individual recognized me and even enjoyed my company, was an enormous privilege. The octopuses I came to know were strong but gentle, and the suction of their suckers tasting my skin pulled me like an alien’s kiss.”

Yah or yuck (you decide), to be kissed by an octopus.

It is clear that Ms. Montgomery took her research and experience to her single heart. Her octopus friend might hold a place for her in its three hearts. 

Bert Fischer, like Sy Montgomery, has a community intrigued and inquisitive about this unusual Island visitor. Poet Ogden Nash found a lighter, less serious, and whimsical way to convey our fascination with this unfamiliar, intelligent, and charismatic creature:

Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I’d call me Us.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.