Low water temperatures can cause an octopus’ body to slow down
NEED TO KNOW
- Octopuses are washing up on the shores of Texas amid a bout of cold weather
- Cold water temperatures can slow down an octopus’s body functions, allowing them to be swept onto beaches by currents
- Unfortunately, experts believe many of the octopuses found on shore are already dead
A Texas cold snap is leaving scores of octopuses stranded on the state’s shores.
As temperatures drop into the mid-40s in the Corpus Christi area, the Gulf of Mexico water cooled, driving its octopus population from the sea, per CHRON and KVUE. Residents in the region have recently spotted many octopuses immersed in the sand along the coast. Seeing a wild octopus out of the water is usually a rare sight.
A sudden drop in water temperature, say brought on by unusually cold weather, can cause an octopus’s body to slow and weaken, Jace Tunnell, from Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, told KVUE…