'That's the kraken': Video of giant octopus in British Columbia goes viral on TikTok
A woman was out on the waters with her family placing prawn traps when the "kraken" appeared.
A video of what appears to be a massive Pacific octopus in British Columbia has gone viral on social media.
Port Alberni, B.C.-native Brooke Sattar shared a clip of the octopus on TikTok on Wednesday, where millions of people have since seen the ocean creature.
"Today's catch caught us! The octopus held on for a bit then let go and swam back down. Coolest sight I've seen! #pacificoctopus," Sattar captioned her post.
Sattar told CTV News she was with her family last week placing prawn traps around the waters of Vancouver Island's Alberni Inlet.
After going to retrieve one of the traps, the octopus was clinging to its side with its arms wrapped around the cage. Sattar said the octopus held on for two or three minutes before it swam away.
"I grew up out there and never have I seen an octopus just totally grabbing onto a prawn trap," Sattar said. "It was super cool."
In the video, you can hear the family shouting with excitement after seeing the animal.
"Wow! Look at that!" a man said, while a woman said, "You're kidding! That is so huge."
As of Saturday afternoon, the video has racked up more than 37.2 million views on TikTok, with more than two million likes and 15,000 comments.
Tiktok users shared their amazement over the octopus, with some also sharing their fears.
"That's the kraken right there," one user penned.
"100% why I don't go in the ocean," another shared.
"People just casually giggling at a kraken," someone commented.
"That octopus is huge!!" someone else added.
"Why am I kinda terrified by that," one person proclaimed.
"The people saying it's a kraken when it's clearly Cthulhu..." another person said.
Earlier in November, another woman in British Columbia shared a stunning video of her encounter with an octopus in the Salish Sea.
Andrea Humphreys, a high school teacher in Campbell River, B.C., said she had been diving for 12 years but this was the first time an octopus came over to her and gave her a hug. It stayed
"It was just crawling on my camera, crawling on my lips, giving me a hug. These huge tentacles were up over my face and mask,” Humphreys told the Guardian, adding that it spent nearly an hour in her vicinity. "Every time I backed away from it, the octopus just kept coming towards me. And it was just so amazing and inspiring."
