Задание №19 — Коммуникативные умения

Oliver the Odd Octopus

“What’s that? That creature…,” Lisa could not take her eyes off something swimming in Ken’s fish tank. The tank was large, much larger than people usually put into their flats for interior reasons. But Ken’s parents were not like most people – his father was a marine biologist, and his mother worked as a vet in the local vet clinic. Their home was different. Lisa wouldn’t be surprised to see a dog or a cat with bandaged legs there – as Ken’s mother sometimes ‘took work home.’ The creature in the fish tank, however, looked like an alien to Lisa.

“Oh, now it’s my dad who’s taken work home. This guyis called Oliver. He’s an octopus, can’t you see?” Ken came up to the fish tank and tapped his fingers on the glass. The octopus immediately approached the glass and looked up at Ken. His eyes were orange, and his eight legs seemed blue. Lisa came up to the tank to take a better look, but the octopus… disappeared! It just dissolved in the water! Lisa was puzzled and Ken laughed loudly, “This is Oliver’s favourite trick. He can turn invisible. Well, almost invisible... He’s still there, but he’s changed his colour to sandy brown to match the sand in the tank. In the wild, this trick helps octopuses to hide from sharks.”

Lisa felt more and more curious about the octopus. “Are you saying Oliver is able to camouflage himself to escape danger? What else can he do?”

“Well, lots of things. He can squeeze through a very small hole. As small as a coin. Look, if I put this plate with a hole between him and his snack, he will get to his food in no time,” said Ken. He opened the tank, put his hand with a snack into the water and blocked the octopus’s way to it with a large plastic plate with a few small holes.

“I bet he’ll never get through the hole. It’s too small! Oliver’s much larger! Even his head…” but Lisa did not complete what she wanted to say, because Oliver had already moved through the hole as if he were liquid. He grabbed his snack with one of his eight arms and looked at Lisa. “Oh, he’s amazing!” Lisa couldn’t hide her surprise.

“See?” Ken was pleased with the performance. “It’s easy because he has no bones.”

“How is it possible? No bones at all? I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself.” Lisa looked at Oliver very closely and added, “He is odd, of course. But he is not ugly. He is even cute. And he looks smart.”

Ken nodded in agreement, “My dad says octopuses are very smart. They can watch and learn by watching. They are fast at learning new skills and they are good at problem-solving. For example, they can figure out how to open a jar or untie a knot. My father has been studying the behaviour of dogs and cats, and, according to him, octopuses are cleverer and more resourceful than they are. At least my father is sure of that. He’s been testing Oliver’s abilities for a few weeks, and has got some astonishing results.”