'Angriest Octopus' Goes After Swimmer

That's one too many scary beasts in Australia for some
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2021 9:01 AM CDT

A man was taking a dip in sunny Australia—which we might as well call the land of beasts—when he was attacked by the "angriest octopus." Lance Karlson, a geologist and former lifeguard, was walking along the shores of Geographe Bay in Dunsborough, Western Australia, on March 18 when he spotted an octopus lashing out at a seagull, according to an Instagram post. The octopus then moved toward Karlson and his 2-year-old daughter at the water's edge, lashing out at the pair, per the BBC. "Ow, it got me!" a shocked Karlson says in a video that captured the sudden strike. Karlson wrote that his family then moved farther down the beach, but the octopus appeared again. Karlson was swimming some 30 yards from shore when he spotted tentacles moving away from a bed of shells.

"I was only there for a few seconds looking at the shells when I was struck on the arm from behind," he tells 7News. "My goggles fogged up and then I was struck again, this time on the neck." Karlson later shared photos showing red welts across his neck. "I can only describe it as a whipping sensation followed by a stinging," he tells Yahoo News Australia. He says he prefers to use vinegar on such ocean wounds, but had to settle for acidic cola. "Turns out it works," Karlson tells 7News. His video quickly went viral. "I can't believe how fast those tentacles whipped out of the water," one commenter wrote, per 7News. "I was already hesitant with sharks and saltwater crocs," wrote another. "You have attacking octopus ... I'm never going in the water again!" (It turns out octopuses can punch.)

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