Standard procedure is for the octopus to squirt the ink, change its own color as camouflage, and simultaneously jet away under the inky murk’s cover.
While the ink does do a good job of this, it also holds a secret weapon that further facilitates an octopus’s escape.
The ink, even when diluted in the ocean, is poisonous to some creatures and has a stunning effect on others.
How poisonous is the ink? If an octopus in an aquarium released its ink, it would kill everything inside the glass walls—, including the octopus.
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