Octopus in a shell: South Carolina resident shares rare experience on social media

South Carolina resident Lori McGee was out for a walk on the beach when she had a "once in a lifetime experience" thanks to an octopus. During her walk, off the shore of the Isle of Palms, she noticed a whelk shell. As a matter of habit she picked it up to looks for crabs inside, but to her surprise, she found an octopus instead.  

McGee said she captured the images before returning the octopus to the water off the shore of Isle of Palms, some 20 miles south of Charleston. On September 18, she uploaded pictures of the octopus inside the shell on Instagram.

"I had a once in a lifetime experience! I've lived here for 12 years, walk the beach year round, but today I witnessed something I never could have imagined. I was walking in shin deep water and found a beautiful whelk, which I always check to make sure a crab isn't residing in it, and WHOA! It wasn't a crab, but an octopus! (sic)" McGee informed through her post.

"She stayed in the shell long enough for me to take a picture, then started crawling out on my arm. She was so beautiful. I took a quick video and quickly got her back to the ocean. She wasn't interested in the whelk anymore, so she set off on another adventure," McGee added the caption to her Instagram post.

McGee said she had just completed watching My Octopus Teacher, a Netflix documentary about a diver who encounters an eight-legged companion underwater, which added to the magic of her experience. Watch her post below:

'Octopus inside shell was a rare encounter meant to be' 

McGee had shared the post on Twitter as well with the caption, "I had a once in a lifetime experience I found a beautiful whelk, with an Octopus inside! She was so beautiful. We just watched the movie "My Octopus Teacher" a few days ago, so I do think this rare encounter was meant to be. (sic)"

Octopuses are common in shallow waters off the coasts of the United States. The common octopus species can grow to be around three feet long and are noted for their thinking and camouflaging abilities. They have long and short term memory, are taught by habits and can learn problem-solving. The neurological system of the animal controls colour cells in the skin, allowing the octopus to colour and blend in with their surroundings.

(Image: @mcgeebythesea/Instagram)