The Soul of an Octopus:

A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Review Written by Helena Milazzo

Founder and CEO of LegaSea Ecology LLC Learn More About Helena

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Book Reviews

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March 30, 2022

In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.

Book Title: The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Book Author: Sy Montgomery

Genre: Nonfiction

Pub Date: April 5, 2016

Page Count: 272 pages

ISBN: 1451697724

Soul of an Octopus is one of my favorite books and one of the most influential pieces of marine literature that I have read so far. I began this book on a trip down to the Bahamian island of Abaco with a handful of students and professors from my university to conduct Atlantic Gulf Rapid Reef Assessments (AGRRA) on the fish, coral, and algae species.

Apart from the surveys, my attention was focused on this book and I finished it just three days later. During surface intervals between dives, swinging in the hammock as the sun dipped gently behind the palm fronds, and underneath the thin yet suffocating sheets of our extremely small bunkbeds, I flipped through the pages with curiosity and amazement.

Through the unique experience of interacting, forming relationships, and learning from these truly magnificent beings, Sy Montgomery can take readers on an eye-opening, heart throbbing exploration of these amazing animals through both a scientific and anecdotal lens. This book is entertaining, educational, and an easy read, palatable for most and will leave you with a strong appreciation for these unique aliens of the underwater world.

I hope you all love this book as much as I did! Enjoy!