Ocean of Hope

Tag: documentary reviews

My Octopus Teacher Review by Ollie the Octopus

Cephalopods, Documentary Reviews, Ollie the Octopus
my octopus teacher review
My Octopus Teacher review by Ollie the Octopus

My Octopus Teacher Review

Hello my name is Ollie the Octopus. Unlike my counterpart featured in the Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher,” I have a name. I’m male though, and she was female—she laid eggs at the end of her life. While I wouldn’t have minded mating with her, we live halfway around the world from each other—her off of the South Africa coast, and me off of the California coast off of the USA.

We’re not villains!

So what does an octopus think of a documentary? Well, I’ve never watched TV, so I can only speak through my human translator (or is she an octopus translator?). I’m just glad we octopuses are not just thought of as villains (see Ursula in the Little Mermaid), food (octopus bowls in Japanese restaurants) or as slimy, disgusting creatures.

Octopuses are clever and intelligent!

We are now seen as the clever, intelligent and incredible creatures that we are, woo hoo! From what I’m told, some humans were horrified or disappointed that Craig Foster didn’t try and save his octopus teacher from a shark attack. He didn’t want to mess with nature.

Messing with nature?

But he did. He permanently scared her from one den at the beginning of their “friendship,” and continually put her life in possible danger when interacting with her. And especially when taking her to the surface when he took a much-needed breath of fresh air, he was exposing her to possible predators.

Changing natural behaviors?

But that she decided to interact with Craig at all was her decision. She could have stayed hidden and there would have been no documentary. Having her life permanently captured digitally was well worth any risk to her life. Did it change any of her natural behaviors? It did, but the time Craig spent with her was small in comparison to the time she spent being “wild.”

Octopuses love enrichment!

You wouldn’t have empathy for me otherwise, nor would you like to hear about how octopuses in captivity solve puzzles and open jars and boxes for food. Or how we “play” with objects in our tank (placing an object in the stream of water in our tank over and over).

We’re, um, cannibals

But you probably didn’t know that we can be cannibals, which I think makes octopus farming a tricky and controversial venture. Not to mention how it complicates the mating game!

We’re camouflaging machines!

We camouflage out of instinct—we’re color blind—but use our wits not to get eaten. We can change color, texture and shape. After all, we’re just a boneless protein snack to any mouth larger than us!

Unexplored ocean

We octopuses are often compared to alien beings. Why humans continue to search for life in space when 95% of the ocean is unexplored by humans or ROV’s (remotely operated vehicles) is beyond me. Octopuses have been eaten forever, yet true empathy for us took until this documentary. What other wonders do the oceans hold for humans?

You can help!

So what can you do for the ocean? Well, less than one digit % of all donations to nonprofits go to ocean conservation charities. Check Charity Navigator for a reputable nonprofit to donate to. A good one is Craig Foster’s nonprofit Sea Change Project and the Sea Save Foundation (My human volunteered there!)

Thanks for reading My Octopus Teacher review. Do you have any questions for me? I’ll answer them in any future blog posts.

Congratulations to My Octopus Teacher for winning many international awards, including the BAFTA and Academy Award for best documentary!

Also see: Ollie the Octopus and the Definition of Ocean Acidification

Ocean Documentary Review: “Diving Deep: the Life and Times of Mike deGruy”

Book Reviews

diving deep poster, diving deep documentary, diving deep review
Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy

I just watched “Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy,” a documentary about an ocean filmmaker, scuba diver, deep-sea explorer and entertaining storyteller. I had heard of Mike through the many ocean documentaries I’ve watched over my lifetime, and his infectious enthusiasm for the ocean is unforgettable. He may be recognizable to Shark Week enthusiasts as a host.

The documentary is thourough, starting with Mike growing up exploring the bayous of Mobile, Alabama with his 3 brothers. They were all springboard divers, and Mike’s father’s movies of them diving was one of the many ways Mike was introduced to filmmaking.

He was daring and brave to dive in some of the places he did, like Antarctica and during a white tip reef shark feeding frenzy despite being attacked on the arm by a shark earlier in his life. Mike even dove into the deep sea in deep submersible subs and suits. He was a true explorer who championed for all that is in the ocean, new and old.


Mike was upset that more people didn’t share his enthusiasm for all things ocean, and that corporations would choose profits over exploring. For example BP and the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It was in his childhood backyard so to speak, and he was very angry about the oil spill from when it happened to years later when we still don’t know the effects of the chemical dispersants used due to lack of scientific funding.


Mike deGruy died in a helicopter crash (February 4, 2012) while going to film James Cameron’s world record setting dive down to the Marianas Trench. An amazing life was cut short but his 30 years of film documentaries lives on.


I saw “Diving Deep: the Life and Time of Mike deGruy” through the International Ocean Film Fest, running through August 9, 2020. It’s available to watch by donation.

Here’s one of his free TED talks, Hooked by an Octopus:

Here’s the documentary’s website Diving Deep”