The common octopus is a warm water species that usually lives in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean.
The common octopus is a warm water species that usually lives in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean. But last year, octopus larvae hitchhiked across the English Channel attached to plankton, resulting in an octopus bloom off England’s coast. This year, the bloom is the largest it’s been in 75 years.
Normally, octopus larvae that drift into cold waters die. But this year’s bloom, experts say, is the result of an unusually intense marine heat wave off of Devon and Cornwall, which raised water temperatures up to 9 degrees F above normal.
The change in species has been a boon for local fishers selling octopus into the lucrative European export market. (Octopus landings along the U.K.’s southwest coast were roughly 7,700 percent higher than usual in 2025.) And while the invasion has slashed the catch of scallops, lobster, and crab, it has boosted numbers of seals, conger eels, and dolphins, which eat octopus. The warming, in combination with abundant prey, has also drawn bluefin tuna and sharks to British waters for the first time in decades.
Read More: Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: dimitrisvetsikas1969 via Pixabay
