Local divers outraged over killing of octopus

By Jon Humbert Published: Nov 1, 2012 at 11:24 PM PDT Last Updated: Nov 2, 2012 at 2:34 PM PDT
SEATTLE -- People come to Cove Two in West Seattle for the view, both above and below water. But a round of online pictures went viral and turned diver against diver.

Bob Bailey says he saw two young men carrying a live octopus from the water.

"As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it," he said.

Scott Lundy saw them toss it in a pickup truck.

"Sitting in the back of this truck, it was just squirming and writhing almost. It was really just a sad thing to see," he said.

According to the state, the man in his 20s has a license to fish. He was allowed to take the octopus from the water with his hands, and octopus are not protected in these specific waters. Everything that happened was legal. But Bailey says that doesn't make it right.

"It's just not done," he said. "It's bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn't do it."

The divers didn't like the young men's attitude, saying they had a disregard for the water. Bailey says the men referred to the animal as a "he," but Bailey noted they were wrong.

"I said, 'That's a she and she's probably here to lay eggs.' At which point he looked at me and said 'She was on eggs and now she's not,'" he said.

Bailey hopes it was all talk and a full generation of octopus hasn't been lost.

The man and his family declined to comment on the record, saying there have been threats made because of the online postings.