CANNON BEACH, Oregon — A Seaside woman was able to capture video of a giant octopus on Thursday, after encountering the sea creature in a tide pool by Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.
Angela Whitlock, a marine program coordinator with an environmental nonprofit, was walking through the area around 8 a.m., when the unexpected run-in took place.
“I was coming about in one direction and the octopus was coming towards me under the water, and I gasped," Whitlock said. "I think the octopus did, too, because it was like a speckled white all of a sudden. I think we both gasped at each other."
As soon as it happened, Whitlock frantically reached for her phone and hit record.
"I finally got my camera working and that's when the octopus came out. It had turned its maroon color again," she said. "It just came right up to my feet and tucked itself around my feet, and it was checking me out. It did a little back-and-forth dance for a little while, and it was just so magical, I was speechless."
The Seaside resident was able to stay calm in a situation that would have sent many running in the opposite direction.
"When it came at me, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what is happening here?'" Whitlock recalled. "But I just stood really still because I wanted to soak up every second of it because that hasn't happened before. I don't know if it will again in the tide pools.”