Love Life of the Octopus

What creature exudes surreal, alien charm in quite the same way as a cephalopod? Ambulatory on land and jet-powered in water, these brainy creatures change color and elude predators amidst clouds of ink. Join us for an afternoon as we delve into the behavior, biology, and beauty of octopi and squid. At 1pm in the McBean theater, we'll enjoy two short films that capture the amorous mystery of cephalopod sexual reproduction. Then, at 3pm on the museum floor, we'll explore cephalopod anatomy through the dissection of squid, from which we'll borrow some ink to make squid prints. We'll be joined by special guests Justin Holl and Peter Winch from the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary and printmaker Julie Whitcomb.

Love Life of the Octopus (1967, 14 min.) The surrealist pioneer of underwater filmmaking Jean Painleve combines intimate footage of the octopus playing, mating, and rearing its young with otherworldly music and narration. Through microscopy we see the baby octopus emerge from the egg and to take its first tentacled swim into its aquatic world.

Baby Squid, Born Like Stars (2006, 6 min.) Researchers Steve Haddock & Brad Siebel captured this breathtaking footage of a squid species giving birth to her brood from a submarine 2500 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The musical score, along with the strange clarity of underwater optics, induces the feeling of floating in another world.