Giant Maze Experiment – Octopus VS Big Water Labyrinth

Welcome to the Great Octolabyrinth!

Will Thomas, the curious octopus in today’s video, manage to find the exit to the giant water maze? Or will he be trapped in the labyrinth’s complexity?

A maze challenge has been a frequent request from many of our viewers: so we sat down and designed the biggest water labyrinth ever created!

The intelligence of many animals (e.g. hamsters, rats, cats, dogs etc.) has often been evaluated based on their ability to escape from tricky mazes. The Octolabyrinth was meant to test the level of intelligence of our amazing octopus residents.

Our octopus did his best to solve the puzzle and find the exit but he got lost many times in the confusing pathways of our water maze. However, even Theseus would have been trapped in the labyrinth if it was not for Ariadne’s helpful ball of thread. We therefore decided to offer our octopus a helping hand by adding pictures of animals he would normally avoid at every dead end to guide him through the giant maze.

Thomas always seemed to enjoy swimming around the maze and showed no sign of distress during this great maze challenge.

[y_fam_goeglyd]

Was it just me or did he go pale when he saw at least some of the images, as if he were trying to blend in with the white background? It's fascinating watching these little creatures. They may be small but they're so smart.

[thedukeofweasels]

This is probably really good enrichment for him because avoiding predators to find safety is natural behavior

[bloodreaver]

So it was like a horror maze experience for the octopus with all the "predator" images and stuff

[trygveplaustrum]

Humans need markers to remember where they are. I would likely be almost, if not just as, confused if all the walls were that same pasty white, with very little distinction.

[MikkanDoisRTE]

Guys your effort making that labyrinth was incredible! Thank you for making this things in order to entertain us and show us how amazing octopuses can be

[markmcknight]

What a beautiful creature, oozing around this labyrinth, checking out every single feature with his/her intelligent, curious eyes.

[joncrane]

Maybe thomas wasn't trying to leave the labyrinth the first time he toured. A new place can be exciting.

[mediawolf]

First of all, wow. That's amazing. And second, it would be interesting to put him in there a second time, without the photos. He now knows there's a nice dark place to get to, and may have some recollection of the route. Great test of his memory abilities.

[clubsport]

Hope he/she got some tasty treats after that.

[riphopfer]

That was fantastic! I'm never disappointed with their incredible cleverness. Thomas seems like a particularly charming little chap, too.

[ConnieFaye]

I think he inked a little at that Moray eel picture. Thank you for this.

[kizpaws]

I just love watching these videos displaying the intelligence of such creatures! Fascinating to watch... I envy the scientists who have the privilege of working with them and being able to display to the world just what their intelligence level is! Great work! ♥

[Silver]

The second time around it seemed to move with a lot more confidence before it got to the pictures, then immediately slowed down and started to camouflage upon noticing a potential predator as it moved out of its line of sight.

[joy]

The maze is shaped the words ‘OCTOLABTV’. Nice!

[jenniferloving]

Love watching these intelligent, graceful creatures.

[amandastout]

He sees the predators, and is like "I'm a rock, I'm a rock, I'm drifting, drifting...whew!"

[jaxonmurtagh]

I have a potential video idea here.
So I am relatively new to the channel so pls forgive me if you have already tested this out but i have always wondered about the sense of smell of the octopus and haven't seen any tests about it so here goes:
Put three cups in the tank with only one containing food, if it goes to the one with the food then you know that there sense of smell isn't just limited to the range of their suction cups. And when you repeat the experiment you could change the colour of the cups so it's isn't just going to the same coloured one. Thx for reading!
Oh and great vid as always

[qiqi]

That was amazing! Love how it stopped before the picture to “think” and decided to take the right turn! And your conclusion at the end makes total sense! Thank you for making this cool video!

[anitababacsi]

It's amazing. Many thanks for the video. ❤️️🐙❤️️🐙❤️️

[herecomestheboi]

What a sweet octolad! SO COOL what they can remember!!!