“Year of the octopus” in English waters

TT

Published 2025-12-22 20.35

 

two-month-old giant octopus unscrews a can lid in the hope of food. Archive image. Photo: Jørgen Jessen/Scanpix/TT

A British environmental organization has named 2025 the “Year of the octopus” after a record number of octopus sightings were made in the coastal waters of the island nation.

A mild winter followed by an unusually warm spring is the reason.

This is about the giant octopus, a very common octopus species in the Mediterranean, whose distribution area extends from the coastal areas of England in the north, down along the entire west coast of Africa in the south, and out into the eastern Atlantic.

The species is now experiencing a sharp population increase in British coastal waters, reports The Guardian. The warm weather of the past year has meant that more young squid have survived and developed into adults.

Local fishermen have reported record catches of squid, in some places exceeding normal catch levels by ten times.

An increase in the invasive species Japanese spider crab in the same areas is believed to have contributed to further favorable conditions for the squid, which like to eat crab.