“ – She’s carrying fertilized eggs. And now, happy and settled [in her new den], she lays them, 100,000 of them. Over the next six months, she carefully tends her precious brood. She caresses them with her arms, to keep them free of algae and properly supplied with oxygen. This is her first and only brood and so she takes great care of them. While she’s guarding her eggs, she doesn’t leave the den. Not once. Unable to feed, she is starving. Her last act of devotion is to blow water over the eggs to help them hatch. Young, fully-developed octopus pop out. Though only a few will survive to adulthood, she’s given them the best chance she can. After her long and lonely vigil, she is dead. Surely this sacrifice must make her one of nature’s most devoted mothers.”
Sad update everyone, Tama recently passed away… An estimated 3,000 people, including railway officials, attended Tama the cat’s funeral on Sunday, days after she died of heart failure aged 16. [x]
For those who haven’t read articles about it, the local shrine elevated her to a god. She’s now the Eternal Stationmaster and patron god of the station.
Beautiful.
Now I’m crying thanks
and a new cat was hired right?
yep! her name is Nitama (essentially ”second tama” or “tama II”) and she served under Tama as an apprentice before being appointed her deputy
As much as I hate to admit it, our feisty little kraken is getting old, and she has been getting old for a couple of months now. Senescence, or aging, in octopuses is a very natural part of their short life cycle. For the small species I work with like this common octopus, they only live one or two years at most both in the ocean and in human care. Though this is a known and expected part of working with these animals, it doesn’t make this process much easier to witness, nor does it prevent me from getting way too attached to each amazing individual.
Our little nugget is eating (albeit less enthusiastically) and shows interest in interacting with both us aquarists and the enrichment we give her, but she won’t be for long. And it sucks. It sucks so so so much.
But, I am so happy for the short time I have been privileged enough to spend with this animal. Her fiery and often troublemaking self has taught me so much about enrichment, habitat design, animal intelligence, and the incredible joy that comes with being an aquarist and working with all of our amazing animals. I’m going to miss this crazy little lady so much.
![bpd-keiko:
“ “ – She’s carrying fertilized eggs. And now, happy and settled [in her new den], she lays them, 100,000 of them. Over the next six months, she carefully tends her precious brood. She caresses them with her arms, to keep them free of...](https://66.media.tumblr.com/5efe0a553609aa456f1820bc90b57741/tumblr_pnaqd01MhC1v8eq2po2_500.png)
![bpd-keiko:
“ “ – She’s carrying fertilized eggs. And now, happy and settled [in her new den], she lays them, 100,000 of them. Over the next six months, she carefully tends her precious brood. She caresses them with her arms, to keep them free of...](https://66.media.tumblr.com/fb9130a680b7d2ee7f4c0176219f8797/tumblr_pnaqd01MhC1v8eq2po1_500.png)
