Epic moment Dunedin man catches octopus with bare hands. / Seleselelimalelei Lavea
A man has impressively caught two octopuses with his bare hands while walking along the Dunedin coastline.
Samoan tourist Seleselelimalelei Lavea was visiting family in Dunedin when he spotted two octopuses swimming along Andersons Bay Inlet.
In the video posted to Facebook, the Lavea and his brother-in-law can be seen clapping above the waterline, a technique used to create vibration and attract sea life to the surface.
After a couple of minutes, a family member can be seen leaning into the water before plucking the octopus out with his bare hands.
A man has impressively caught two octopuses with his bare hands while walking along the Dunedin coastline.
Not happy with their first catch, the video shows the group reaching in for a second octopus they had attracted to the top of the water.
The video caption, which was translated from Samoan to English, roughly says: "Well done on the octopus catch today bro. You guys are funny with how you catch octopus here in New Zealand."
One Samoan-Dunedin local told the Herald the deep south have a wealth of octopuses swimming in their waters.
"Well done on the octopus catch today bro. You guys are funny with how you catch octopus here in NZ."
"Samoans around here say we have the best octopus.
"Whenever we travel up the North Island that's normally one of the things we take up because it's so accessible for us down here to catch whereas up north its super expensive."
Octopuses live for only two years and are considered "terminal spawners", but the tentacled sealife is considered extremely intelligent.
"Octopuses are curious animals with a level of intelligence similar to that of a clever dog," marine scientist Dr Jean McKinnon told the Otago Daily Times in 2016.
Once a powerful god in Samoa, Fe'e, the octopus, was considered an object of worship. In pre-colonial Samoa, Fe'e was one of the most powerful gods in the pantheon, the God of War.
Adherents would call on him before battle, with the words:
Le fe'e e, fa'afofoga mai ia, (O Fe'e listen,) O a'u o Fale, o le e tulai atu nei, (I am Fale, who stands before you,) Le Fe'e, aumai ou mumu fua, (O Fe'e, give us your red flaming rage,) Se'i tau, ai le taua nei. (With which to fight this battle.)
According to myth, Fe'e could transform from octopus to human.
Lavea's video, which was posted online on Monday, has had more than 130,000 views and 440 shares.
