A Giant Rare Pacific Octopus Wrestles with Scuba Diver Over Camera

A scuba diving adventure in the deep waters off the coast of California turned somewhat into a wrestling match between a pair of divers and a giant pacific octopus.

On Feb. 1, two scuba divers, David Malvestuto (34), and Warren Murray (56), took a dive in to the waters off Bluefish Cove in Carmel, California (80 feet). It was during this adventure the duo encountered a rare giant octopus and decided to capture the creature on camera. Apparently their diving group wants evidence of every story told; If you don't get it on tape, it didn't happen, reports the Daily News.

Finding such a large  8-foot octopus is rare in these waters, generally only the smaller variety lurks in these corners. Initially, the divers mistook the octopus to be a large rock as it was camouflaged well within the reefs. But the octopus made its way toward the divers and opened its tentacles and tried to grab the camera in the diver's hand.

"I wasn't too worried. Generally they are not too interested in people. They'll just take off," diver Warren Murray, 56, , a professional scuba and underwater photography instructor told the Daily News. "I was thinking he would take off as soon as I got close to it. When he wasn't moving, I was excited. I was thinking (about that rule) in the back of my mind," he said. "I wanted to capture as many pictures as I could."

The only concern the diver had was that the marine animal could break his fingers while wrestling for the camera. But the diver quickly snapped the eight-legged octopus. The sea creature moved away once the flash went off.

The divers believe that the sea creature saw its reflection in the camera and mistook it to be another  sea creature. This could be the reason for its swift approach toward the camera.

The divers were thrilled to see the footage of their unexpected encounter with the marine animal.

"We can say we did all of these things but we made sure we had the video and pictures to prove it," Murray said to Daily News.