You never know what’s lurking beneath the surface. Sailors and explorers have shared tales of giant octopuses throughout history. In 1753, Danish bishop Pontoppidan wrote that the monster attacked ships and pulled them underwater. French malacologist Denys-Montfort published that the “kraken octopod" was the largest known organism in 1801. In first century Rome, our man Pliny the Elder told the tale of a giant 700 pound “polyp” with 30 foot tentacles that climbed out of the sea, up into a tree and over a fence in order to eat all the pickled fish stored in tubs on the shore. According to modern urban legend, the sidewalk Kraken hides inside water pipes in wait to tickle the toes of passing pedestrians. Watch out!

08.06.25