The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

The final chapter mostly covers the death of Octavia in the spring and a summer scuba diving expedition Montgomery makes to Mooréa, an island near Tahiti. One day in April, Montgomery arrives at the aquarium to see Octavia’s eyes bulging and cloudy. The octopus soon abandons her eggs as well and wanders the floor of her tank. Senescence has set in. Meanwhile, Karma has grown and is soon pushing the boundaries of her small tank, just like Kali before her. Wilson argues for switching the two, while other staff and volunteers are against it.

Because Octavia was no longer tending her eggs, the main reason for keeping her in the larger tank was gone. With her wandering, a smaller tank might be safer and less disorienting. Then again, the stress of the move might kill her. Bill is torn, feeling like neither option is a good one. The next day, however, he finds that Karma had begun using her beak to chew through the ties that secured the mesh over the top of her tank—and was now beginning to work on the mesh itself. Fearing a repeat of what happened to Kali, he decides he must switch the two octopuses. Together with a volunteer, Bill prepares the space and then tries to catch Octavia with a net.