find an enormous octopus in a container

The waters of the North Pacific around Canada's Vancouver Island are a strange and little known world. The water is incredibly clean, the location is isolated and huge thermal vents heat the otherwise cold surrounding these factors combined have led to animals and plants that can grow to huge proportions. Humpback whales, orcas, wolf eels and bald eagles all thrive here. Our team of experts go in search of the elusive Pacific Giant Octopus. Growing up to 7.5 meters across with the power to kill sharks, it is a formidable creature, but also intelligent and incredibly shy. The dive team invites us into an alien world, where persistence is rewarded with encounters with three of these magnificent creatures.

Dreaded by sailors through the ages, this other-worldly looking denizen of the seas is surrendering the astonishing secrets that have brought it almost mythical status. With footage of octopus species rarely, if ever, seen before, including one with giant eyes and another with antennae in place of suction cups, National Geographic takes viewers into the deepest realms of the ocean for a front-row view of The Octopus Show.

An octopus slithers over objects on land—a doll, a skull—then oozes along the shore into the sea. It secretes its ink. The camera follows it along rocks into deeper water, watching closely as it breathes. Its eye is closed then open. Simple titles, in French and German, suggest what to watch. The octopus alternates the use of breathing tubes on either side. It changes color as cells on its skin contract or dilate. Extreme magnification helps us see these changes. Two struggle, one dies. On shore, fishermen catch them and put them in pails. A single tentacle still has life. Back in the sea, two octopi attack a crab. Soon only a couple of crab legs are visible in the mouth of the victor.

Discovering the mysterious lives of octopuses, one of the ocean's most unique creatures.

The series transports viewers into the otherworldly depths of one of the most intelligent and mysterious life forms on Earth as it follows the Giant Pacific Octopus from birth to death. The documentary features an eclectic mix of characters who have their own unique connections to these creatures, from the scientist trying to save them, the explorer trying to understand them, to the Emmy-nominated actor and comedian, Tracy Morgan, who is obsessed with them. Their adventures will make us laugh, cry, and question our own place on this planet along the way.

The scientific search for the elusive giant squid.

The octopus is a close cousin of the oyster and snail. And yet, even by human standards the multi-limbed creature is considered highly intelligent. From Spain to Vancouver Island to Capri, Italy, scientists are testing the brain-power of the mysterious and mythic octopus.

There are many myths about octopuses, the fascinating primeval creatures of the oceans. They are said to have torn even large ships into the depths! But researchers are now slowly discovering the secrets of these intelligent octopuses. In many new experiments, which you will witness here, octopuses demonstrate almost unbelievable abilities, they even open vessels to get at their prey. This is the first time that their ability to think abstractly is proven. An ability that we might trust the great apes, but not prehistoric sea creatures! The breathtaking documentary "Octopus - Geniuses from the Deep Sea" provides astonishing facts and turns your opinion about octopuses completely upside down!

Deep below the surface of the Tacoma Narrows, among the ruins of a bridge once nicknamed "Galloping Gertie," the King Octopus is said to live. Explore the legend of this mystical creature and how it changed a town, a culture and most importantly us. Who are the real monsters?