Surprised angler pulls an octopus onto Outer Banks pier, sending onlookers scrambling

Anglers catch all kinds of crazy things off Outer Banks beaches, but rarely do they get people backing away.

That happened Wednesday at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, when someone reeled in an “eight-armed sea creature.”

“This #OCTOPUS came over the rail today after getting hooked on a drum rig. It surprised (the) angler and #onlookers,” the pier posted on its Facebook page.

Video showed the bold octopus slithering across the boardwalk, straight at the videographer. And it was moving surprisingly fast, too.

The video has been viewed more than 33,000 times since being shared on Facebook and gotten more than 600 reactions and comments, many along the lines of “Throw it back.”

“Yikes! Kind of freaky,” one person wrote.

“Don’t see this every day on the pier,” another commenter wrote.

“That’s a whole lotta nope,” a user said.

The Town of Nags Head also shared the video, and joked the octopus was “trying to get out of the water before dangerous surf from distant Hurricane Larry arrives.” The storm is far off shore but is forecast to cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” along the East Coast.

As for what became of the unlucky octopus, pier staff said it was “quickly released near a pier piling.”

It appeared to be a common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), which can grow to 36 inches in length and weigh up to 22 pounds, according to National Geographic. “They also have beaklike jaws that can deliver a nasty bite, and venomous saliva, used mainly for subduing prey,” the site reports.

They can also regrow an arm after it has been pulled off by a predator, National Geographic says.

This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 11:49 AM.