Baby octopus hitches a ride from Jewfish Key

The octopus most likely boarded the boat via the anchor, the family said.

By Lesley Dwyer
| 3:50 p.m. July 12, 2022

A baby octopus crawls onto a boat anchored off Jewfish Key. (Photo courtesy of Hilary Julian)

Longboat Key
Neighbors

When the Julian family pulled up their anchor near Jewfish Key and headed to Beer Can Island for a summer picnic, an unexpected guest boarded their boat. Hilary Julian called it “our hitchhiker octopus.” Delighted with their hop-on, they surmise it caught a ride on the anchor and then crawled off.

The family has split their time between Orlando and Longboat Harbour since 2019. While on the water every other weekend, they’d never seen an octopus before.

“It was a truly amazing experience. I posted the video on our Instagram page, @soulsurfer_LBK and it has 11.6K views so far,” Julian said. Her youngest son Miles, 11, made sure the hitchhiker got home safe.

author

Lesley Dwyer

Lesley Dwyer is a staff writer for East County and a graduate of the University of South Florida. After earning a bachelor’s degree in professional and technical writing, she freelanced for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Lesley has lived in the Sarasota area for over 25 years.