Britney Taryn has been taken to TikTok after she and her son Leo (6) had a harrowing experience at a Texas aquarium when an octopus latched on to her boy and refused to let go.
The two had been visiting and touching the sea creature for three years without incident. After a hiatus from their routine, they returned to the facility and were awed by its size, to the point that Taryn checked with the staff to make sure it was the same Octopus.
Little Leo is now walking around with string suction bruises running the length of his right arm.
The octopus is known to suction onto visitors
Image credits: Diane Picchiottino/Unsplash
“This thing is huge,” Taryn said in the video posted on July 15, which has since been shared nearly 13,000 times.
“It had grown exponentially,” she said, sharing a picture of the large aquatic animal. “We even flagged down an employee to ask if it was the same octopus,” and received an affirmative answer.
“Every single time we’ve touched this octopus it suctions onto him and then it releases,” her account continued.
Image credits: britneytaryn
She described the behaviour as “fun and cool” and claimed it had been doing that to everyone in the line before them, leaving them unprepared for what was about to happen next.
The octopus started climbing out of its tank while clinging to the boy
“My son is very level-headed when it comes to animals,” Taryn claimed. But this time around, Leo found himself at something of a misunderstanding with his favorite aquarium playmate.
“Mom, it’s not letting me go,” he called his mother with a demeanor she described as “way too calmly.”
Image credits: britneytaryn
Taryn goes on to explain that she stepped in and tried to pull her son away from the animal, but it started climbing up its side of the glass and out while clinging to the boy.
“The reason we don’t have videos of this is because my friend,” who was in charge of filming the interaction, “was also freaking out.”
When an employee did arrive, he was nonplussed and described the animal as being “playful”
Image credits: britneytaryn
After struggling for a while and her son’s attempts to peel away the octopus’s tentacles failed, Taryn, who would not touch the creature herself, noticed purple spots on her son’s skin and decided it was time to escalate the matter.
“I start yelling,” she said, claiming there were no employees present.
When, according to Taryn, one did show face, they came in a stroll and observed aloud that the eight-armed specimen was feeling rather “playful today.”
Image credits: britneytaryn
The employee stood corrected about his “playful” assessment when he, too, could not pry Leo out of the creature’s grip.
Taryn watched as “more and more” tentacles “enveloped” her son
The employee summoned two assistants who came running with ice packs, which they placed on the octopus.
Throughout the fray, Taryn noticed how the creature “suctioned onto the employees ” and let go repeatedly, but clung to Leo for dear life.
@britneytaryn My son has visited the same octopus every week for 3 years. She always loved him until today, when she tried to pull him into the tank. It took 3 aquarium employees to get her off. Was it affection? Recognition? Or something more dangerous? We thought it was a sweet animal bond… until it left bruises. And when we walked back later, she changed color the second she saw him. 🎥 Watch til the end. 💬 Tell me: Was this love or a warning sign? 🧠 Octopus experts, weigh in. #Octopus #AquariumStory #AnimalBondGoneWrong #OctopusBehavior #SeaLife #AnimalInstinct #MarineBiology #ParentingTikTok ♬ original sound – Britney Taryn
While the three men worked hard at prying the creature loose, Taryn observed: “More and more tentacles start to like… envelope [her son’s] arm.”
The woman skipped the part about how exactly they managed to get the creature of the 6-year-old, but noted that they visited the San Antonio aquarium again hours later, because Leo wanted to see if his octopus was okay.
When the octopus saw Leo again, it started moving and changed color
She captured the animal clinging to the side of its tank, reservedly, until it laid eyes on her son.
Image credits: sanantonio_aquarium
The video shows the animal moving suddenly, spreading out, and changing from its customary terracotta to white.
“This behavior,” Taryn says into the camera, “is not normal.”
The aquarium insists that the octopus is not harmful
According to KSAT 12, Taryn has since reached out to the Texas State Aquarium which told her to take the matter to the United States Department of Agriculture whom she notified of her son’s “extensive suction bruises” and how “employees on-site downplayed the incident.”
@sanantonio_aquarium A creature out of this world! #Octopus #GiantPacificOctopus #Tentacle #Ocean #Marine #MarineBiology #Animals #DidYouKnow #Nature #WildFacts #Aquatic #Aquarium ♬ original sound – San Antonio Aquarium
While not addressing the issue directly, an employee of the aquarium posted a video on TikTok talking about an octopus named Cthulu.
“I promise it’s not a cosmic cry for help … bruises or hickeys will disappear within seven to 14 days,” he said.
“They’re not harmful or anything like that.”
Peta is not happy with the facility
Image credits: sanantonio_aquarium
Animal rights advocacy People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has since weighed in on the San Antonio aquarium incident, and it appears there is no love lost between the two.
“This slimy facility’s exploitative encounters are a recipe for disaster, as injuries abound when timid animals such as octopuses are denied everything natural and important to them and subjected to a barrage of grabbing hands.”
@sanantonio_aquarium Let’s talk about her suction cups! #Octopus #GiantPacificOctopus #Marine #MarineBiology #Ocean #Conservation #Nature #Animals #AnimalFacts #MarineBiologist ♬ Ocean – Soft boy
“For everyone’s sake,” the organization wrote on its website on August 1, “PETA is calling on the San Antonio Aquarium to stop forcing wild animals to interact with humans and release this octopus to her natural habitat, if possible, or an accredited facility where she can finally live in peace.”
Notably, an April 2 inspection found no instances of noncompliance.