Why Does an Octopus Squirt Ink into the Water?
Why Does an Octopus Squirt Ink into the Water? An octopus squirts its inky liquid into the water to escape enemies. The “ink” is a thick brown fluid produced in the octopus’s body and stored in a special reservoir known as an “ink sac.”
When an enemy threatens, the octopus squirts out a dark cloud of ink and quickly retreats behind the protective screen. In less than a second, the octopus also changes the color of its skin to blend in with its surroundings.
Then the octopus may not be seen at all. Not only is the would-be attacker usually deceived by this inky escape trick, but it is also left searching for an animal whose coloring is quite different from the octopus’s.
Squirting ink isn’t the only way an octopus can escape its enemy, though it can swim quickly away if it has to.