00:00- It's hard to remember the
last time I was this nervous
00:02in the presence of an animal.
00:03If you get bit, it's almost certain death.
00:07Oh, I'm like, shaking right now.
00:08Like, my feet are tingling.
00:12Right now, I am out tide
pooling in eastern Australia
00:15in search of the deadliest
creature on the planet.
00:18The blue-ringed octopus has one
00:19of the most toxic venoms on earth
00:21and if we're lucky enough to find one,
00:23I'm going to attempt to
touch it with my bare hands.
00:26But first things first, let's get looking.
00:27From experience tide pooling,
00:30the best results are
usually from the edge.
00:33The further out you can go, the better.
00:37An octopus can change
the texture of its skin
00:39and it would just look like any of these.
00:42Now I've stuck out on all
three previous occasions trying
00:46to locate a blue-ringed octopus.
00:47I'm hoping the fourth time's the charm.
00:49The difference this time is I'm searching
00:50with my good friend, Miller Wilson
00:52who has seen blue-rings in
these tide pools before.
00:55It's very hard to pick a
octopus that's a master
00:58of camouflage out from this environment.
01:00It's about to be low tide,
and this is probably one
01:02of the most dangerous tide
pools that I have ever searched.
01:05So, wearing some nice,
protective shoes, gloves.
01:10I don't really want to handle the octopus
01:11but the gloves should
protect me just in case.
01:14And of course, we still
need to watch our steps
01:16because if you look at this,
all these rocks out here,
01:19exactly like a stone fish.
01:21And this is stone fish territory.
01:23The stone fish is the
world's most venomous fish.
01:25If you step on one, your
boots will not protect you.
01:29A single sting from a stone
fish could be excruciating
01:32and could even be deadly.
01:39Flipping is not really doing
it, so I'm just gonna cruise
01:41to cover a lot of ground
looking for movement.
01:43A lotta times I do see octopus moving
01:45from pocket to pocket.
01:46But they slink along the surface.
01:48I'm just looking for any
movement right now, any movement.
01:51We're getting it though, I can feel it.
01:55(adventurous music fades)
02:03Oh my god, I got an octopus.
02:04I got a blue-ring, guys.
02:13(soft tense music rising)
02:24(soft tense music rising)
02:29How could I miss that?
02:35(tense music rising)
02:40We got one.
(victorious music)
02:56Can you help me get it out of the net?
02:59So you'll see I'm wearing
gloves, guys, for a reason
03:01right now, this is a really
good way to get a nip
03:05and that is not what I want.
03:09- Okay, there we go.
03:13Let's talk about what we've found.
03:15Right there in my hand is
the most dangerous animal
03:20on the planet, at least
when it comes to venom.
03:23Nothing in the animal
kingdom is more toxic
03:27than this tiny, little octopus.
03:31And yes, I am nervous about it.
03:32But before the end of this video,
03:34I will officially touch with my bare hand
03:37the most dangerous and
toxic creature on earth.
03:41There're actually four described varieties
03:44of blue-ring octopus.
03:46This one is the blue-lined octopus.
03:49It's the only one in the family
that has these really cool
03:54vivid blue pinstripes
surrounding the body.
03:57It's almost like blue tiger stripes.
04:00So if this animal is at all threatened,
04:01here, I want to show you what it does.
04:05Look at those rings go.
04:10Is that cool or what?
04:13Stay down, stay down.
04:16If the octopus is at all agitated,
04:18not only does it flare
up the rings on its arms
04:22but those lines on its body glow.
04:27That's your aposematic warning.
04:29And if you don't listen to
me, I'm gonna give you a nip.
04:32And they show these vivid display warnings
04:35not only for predators,
but they also do it
04:38while they're hunting.
04:39They will do it to confuse or
startle their would-be prey.
04:43This is what our octopus
friend here is out hunting.
04:47This is a type of shore crab.
04:48Like, this would be the
perfect food for the octopus.
04:52All right, we're gonna let this crab go.
04:53A single bite from this octopus
04:57could kill over 20 human beings.
05:00And needless to say, if I
get nipped by this creature
05:04that'll be the last nip I ever take.
05:07Now these octopus are nocturnal
05:09and they are masters of camouflage.
05:11Its normal color pattern
perfectly blends in
05:14to this silty environment.
05:16They have three hearts
that pump blue blood.
05:19They also have nine
brains, one central brain
05:23to run the entire nervous system,
05:25but then at the base of each
arm, they have another brain.
05:28And you could see there,
05:29that little beak holds two venom sacs.
05:32And it's actually a toxin
05:34that it doesn't even produce itself.
05:35It actually picks up through bacteria
05:37that it finds in the environment
05:39through other organisms in this tide pool.
05:41And then it collects this
bacteria in its saliva glands
05:44and when it uses its beak
to bite into its prey
05:47or a predator, for escape,
05:49it will actually inject
saliva into the wound.
05:52Once this saliva enters the bloodstream
05:55you get infected with TTX.
05:57No animal has as lethal of a dose
06:00as the blue-ring octopus does.
06:03If you get even a micro amount of TTX
06:06in your bloodstream,
all you can do is be put
06:09on life support and hope that
eventually your body works
06:12through the toxin on its own.
06:14And here's the worst part
about it, while you might be
06:16in complete paralysis, you are lucid.
06:18There are survivors that
have lived to tell the tale
06:21of having people try to
resuscitate them giving active CPR.
06:25And they weren't able to communicate
06:27but they remember everything.
06:30And a lot of people get
bitten by these octopus
06:33because of mistaken identity.
06:34You'll come out to a local
beach, and tide pool,
06:36guys, turn your cameras right now.
06:38This is an active beach.
06:39People take their dogs and
kids, and play on this beach
06:42and these animals live
all along the coastline.
06:45Now that's not to scare you.
06:46Obviously, we're out here
actively looking for them.
06:47They're hard to find, but
people do unfortunately come
06:51into contact with these octopus.
06:52And they'll pick them up, play with them
06:54and in that process take a bite
06:56which is completely painless, by the way.
06:58Initial symptoms are going
to be things like tingling,
07:02difficulty breathing, difficulty thinking,
07:05loss of your motor skills, wobbly walking.
07:08If you think you are ever
bitten by a blue-ring octopus
07:11and you start to have symptoms,
07:12you have to be rushed to the
hospital, fast as you can.
07:16We're talking like, life flight situation
07:18because you only have a matter of minutes
07:20before your whole nervous
system starts to shut down
07:22and you're no longer able to breathe.
07:25In saying all that,
while holding the octopus
07:29in your hand, it's hard
to remember the last time
07:32I was this nervous in the
presence of an animal.
07:36All right, the time has come.
07:40For something that I've
thought a lot about.
07:43Because I know the only
way that this octopus has
07:48the ability to envenomate
you is a bite with its beak
07:52I am going to attempt to
touch with my bare hand
07:56the most lethal, toxic
animal on the planet.
08:00In order to do that, I'm gonna
just dump out this water.
08:02(water splashing)
Look at that.
08:04The octopus has tried to
mimic the color of the cube.
08:08Rest assured, this is
just a camouflage tactic.
08:10They are masters of this.
08:12That octopus is still very
much able to pounce and bite.
08:15They can spend extended
periods out of water.
08:18All right, just so you guys know,
08:20(tense music rising)
08:21if this blue-ring does snare me,
08:23we're going to the hospital.
08:39(audio fast rewinds)
08:47That made me nervous.
08:49All right, lid back on. I don't
think I was just bitten now
08:52but I'm not completely sure.
08:55I have to take a break, guys
08:56'cause like, I'm definitely
feeling a little light-headed.
08:59Like, major anxiety.
09:02That animal right there, if you get bit,
09:05it's game over, it's lights out.
09:08Guys, I am like, shaking right now.
09:10Like, my feet are tingling.
09:12Things that you normally
wouldn't pick up on
09:14like, heart rate, how I'm
breathing, tingle feel.
09:18Like, I'm just from like,
all the adrenaline pumping
09:20through my body, and the
emotions are intense.
09:28(Mark blows out)
Gotta shake that off.
09:29The anxiety that I'm
experiencing on camera is real
09:32as I had almost identical symptoms
09:34to that of a blue-ring bite.
09:36While I was 99% sure I
wasn't bitten, we had
09:39to closely monitor my symptoms
09:41until we deemed it safe
enough to continue filming.
09:44The symptoms of these
bites could be subtle
09:46and can be hard to differentiate
from anxiety and panic
09:49from other sources of stress.
09:51Please, never attempt to do
09:53what you are seeing in this video.
09:54I cannot stress enough, if you are bitten
09:57by a blue-ring octopus,
09:58you must seek medical
attention immediately.
10:01I think I'm all right.
10:02I think I'm okay to
continue, let's keep going.
10:04Okay, it's been a while
since I've had this kind
10:07of reaction to being in an
encounter with an animal.
10:10Like, it's like my first
time seeing a venomous snake.
10:13It's like all kinds of emotions right now.
10:16Just brushing up against
one in the tide pool
10:18while you're walking around,
if you accidentally touch one
10:20you're gonna be just fine,
it's like every other octopus.
10:23The difference only occurs
when you take a bite
10:26from the beak right there.
10:28Let's let the octopus go.
10:30I'm Mark Vins, be brave, stay wild.
10:33We'll see you on the next adventure.
10:35I want to give a huge shout
out to my friend Miller Wilson
10:37for helping us finally
locate a blue-ring octopus.
10:40If you haven't already, go check
out his wildlife encounters
10:43on the Miller Wilson YouTube channel.