Skip to content

Largest octopus bloom in 75 years inspires film

Lisa YoungSouth West
Keith Hiscock An octopus lying on the sea floor with its head turned. The visible eye is orange and the black pupil is horizontal. A tentacle is curled around the front of it and the suckers are clear. It is a pale grey with orange and brown flecks. The water is pale green and the octopus is surrounded by bright green seaweed and lighter seaweed which is pale brown flecked with orange. Keith Hiscock
David Palfrey was so moved by the sight of many octopuses, it inspired to make a film about them

When filmmaker David Palfrey visited Cornwall, he was expecting a week of leisurely diving but instead he found himself face-to-face with octopus after octopus in the open water.

A report led by the Marine Biological Association (MBA) in Plymouth said more octopus had been seen off the south-west coast of the UK in 2025 than for at least 75 years.

The MBA said the population spike, known as a bloom, had coincided with unusually warm conditions, which it said were becoming more frequent due to climate change.

Palfrey said his experiences while diving "exceeded anything we imagined" and inspired him to make a short film which launched on 12 May, Bloomin' Octopus! A Tentacular Spectacular.

Lewis Jeffries David Palfrey is filming underwater and is hovering above a bed of thick, large strands of seaweed which are shades of orange, yellow and brown. The pale green sea is clear.Lewis Jeffries
David Palfrey said he saw octopus on dive after dive

The Bristol-based filmmaker said: "I couldn't stop thinking 'there's a story here'.

"Dive after dive there were octopus out and about and what struck me was how curious they can be.

"They're often shy, but sometimes they'll interact, investigate and seem to watch you as much as you watch them."

The MBA said only four major octopus blooms have been recorded in the past 125 years: in 1899 to1900, 1932 to 1933, 1950 to 1951 and the one which began in 2025 and is ongoing.

Palfrey contacted the MBA report's lead author, University of Plymouth associate professor Dr Bryce Stewart to contribute to the film.

In the film Stewart connected what was being observed in the water to what data showed about oceans warming and wider ecosystem change.

He said: "The octopus bloom is an extraordinary event that tells us a lot about how marine life is responding to a warming ocean."

Olivia Langmead An octopus is hiding in a gap between the sandy seabed and a rock. Its eyes have large black pupils which are ringed with bright orange. Its head is a pale grey speckled with brown and orange markings. It has a tentacle wrapped around itself which is pale grey on the top and orange below, and studded with large suckers. In front of it on the seabed are bits of pink coral or rock and transparent sucker-shaped organisms.Olivia Langmead
The MBA said scientists would continue to investigate what was driving the bloom

Some in the fishing industry have warned they are being negatively impacted by the octopus preying heavily on crabs, lobsters and scallops.

Palfrey filmed fishermen and restaurateurs to illustrate the differing consequences of the blooms and invite viewers "to consider the uncertainty of ecological change, happening in real time".

The MBA said scientists would continue to investigate what was driving the bloom and what it meant for shellfish stocks, marine life and coastal livelihoods.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.

More on this story
Related internet links