09/15/2025
Female octopuses are literally throwing hands… or rather, throwing sand.
In Australia’s Jervis Bay, scientists caught female Common Sydney octopuses doing something no one expected. When males got a little too pushy about mating, the females didn’t just swim away, they grabbed whatever they could find and hurled it straight at them. We’re talking sand, shells, seaweed… basically, whatever was in reach became a weapon.
Researchers recorded over 100 of these throws, and nearly 90% came from females, many aimed directly at persistent males. Some females even launched debris more than ten times in a single encounter, proving this wasn’t random flailing. It was deliberate. Octopus feminism at its finest.
Here’s where it gets even cooler. Octopuses are already some of the smartest invertebrates on the planet. They have flexible arms, sharp problem-solving skills, and powerful siphons they use to shoot water like a natural slingshot. Combine all that, and you get an octopus sniper with impeccable aim.
And this kind of behavior is rare. Very few nonhuman animals have been seen deliberately targeting others with tools. Yet here’s this eight-armed genius, arming herself with seashells to tell suitors, “Not today, buddy.”
Normally, octopuses are solitary creatures, only meeting up to mate. But this debris-throwing strategy shows us just how complex their behavior can get. It’s not just instinct, it’s intelligence, boundaries, and maybe even a little attitude.
On the silent ocean floor, these female octopuses are rewriting what we know about animal behavior. Turns out, intelligence doesn’t always look like language or tools in a lab. Sometimes, it’s a perfectly aimed toss of sand.
So, next time you’re ghosted, just remember: at least no one’s throwing a seashell at your head.
