Seattle, Wash. — To celebrate Valentine's Day, officials at the Seattle Aquarium thought it would be cool to allow visitors to watch a live mating between two octopi.
The annual octopus mating event is open to the public and was set to take place on Sunday at noon.
But acquarium workers couldn't find an appropriate mate for Kong, a 70-pound octopus. They canceled the "blind date" event because they feared he would eat any female octopus they would potentially pair him with. All of the ones they had considered are 30-40 pounds -- half his weight.
Instead, divers swam with the giant "bachelor" octopus while visitors watched.
We’ve made some changes to our #OctopusWeek event! At noon on February 14, instead of our octopus blind date event,...
Posted by Seattle Aquarium on Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Join us at noon today to see divers swim with Kong, our male giant Pacific #octopus, in the Window on Washington Waters...
Posted by Seattle Aquarium on Sunday, February 14, 2016
A Valentine's Day #OctoFact—you might want to kiss a red octopus but we don’t advise it: their venom can cause very painful local effects. #OctopusWeek
Posted by Seattle Aquarium on Sunday, February 14, 2016
With arm spans reaching up to 20 feet across, giant Pacific octopuses can more than wrap their arms around you—and give you triple the love with their three hearts. #ValentinesDay #OctopusWeek
Posted by Seattle Aquarium on Sunday, February 14, 2016
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