LONG BEACH — A dying octopus will devote the rest of her life to caring for her eggs at a California aquarium.
But the eggs will never hatch, according to a Sept. 8 Facebook post by the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Ghost, a giant Pacific octopus, has entered the final stage of her life – senescence, the Long Beach aquarium said.
During senescence, a female octopus will use the rest of her life to care for her eggs, to the point where she’ll neglect her own needs like eating, the zoo said.
Although this is a normal behavior in octopuses, Facebook users expressed their thoughts on the zoo not allowing their octopuses to mate, meaning Ghost’s eggs will never hatch, the post said.
“It seems wrong to deny her the ability to reproduce. Especially with that level of commitment. It’s sad to me,” someone wrote.
“Sad that she is giving her life for eggs humans have prevented from being fertilized. There can never be too many of these intelligent creatures in our world!” another person wrote.
The aquarium doesn’t allow for their octopuses to mate as means to “prevent early senescence,” zookeepers said.
Ghost, whose exact age is unknown, is said to be about 4 or 5, which is about the lifespan of the species.
Senescence looks a bit different in male octopuses as they don’t return back to their den after mating, making them unlikely to survive their predators, while females will never leave their eggs after their “single reproductive episode before death,” according to Wonders of Wildlife’s website.
The species typically lays about 74,000 eggs, according to the aquarium.
“She is a wonderful octopus and has made an eight-armed impression on all of our hearts. In the coming days, she will be moved behind the scenes for the remainder of her life,” the zoo said.
Long Beach is about a 25-mile drive south from downtown Los Angeles.
By PALOMA CHAVEZ/McClatchy News
Paloma Chavez is a reporter covering real-time news on the West Coast. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
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