14 DAY TRIAL // The news just broke that a 20-year-old diver from Seattle has recently decided to catch a giant octopus, drag it out of the ocean and feed on it, supposedly in order to help out some friends who were busy working on a rather sinister art project.
To make matters even worse, Dylan Mayer, as this diver is named, did not even grant the giant octopus the “courtesy” of being killed immediately after it was removed from its natural habitat.
Quite the contrary: the animal was simply thrown in the back on Mayer's truck while being very much alive, meaning that this diver and his friends caused it intense suffering with no purpose other than their personal entertainment.
It may be true that, for the time being, these giant Pacific octopuses are not listed as a threatened or endangered species, and therefore do not benefit from legal protection, but this does not change the fact that conservationists worldwide are appalled by this diver's decision to abuse the animal in such ways.
Daily Mail quotes Bob Bailey, one of those who witnessed the animal's torment, who made a case of how, “As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it.”
“It's just not done. It's bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn't do it,” he went on to say.
On the other hand, Dylan Mayer sees no wrong in his actions, and claims that, “I eat it for meat. It's no different than fishing. It's just a different animal.”
Hoping to keep other people from following in Mayer's footsteps, a group of activists started a petition whose goal is to force officials into banning the harvesting of giant Pacific octopuses.
The main drive behind their demand is the fact that, as numerous studies have shown, giant Pacific octopuses are rather intelligent creatures, capable of spatial and observational learning. “They're incredibly intelligent, curious, very playful,” diver Drew Collins says.
The octopus killed by this diver weighed about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms).
Although police officials cannot take any legal actions against Dylan Mayer, several shops in the region no longer sell this man any kind of diving equipment.