Two octopuses caught on camera having sex in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria

Incredible underwater footage has captured the moment two octopuses started mating underwater.

The footage, captured by a diver based in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, showed the two octopuses entangled in each other’s tentacles, before the female scurries away. 

The male octopus then caught up with his mating partner and enveloped her with his tentacles.

The footage, captured by a diver based on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, showed the two octopuses entangled in each other’s tentacles, before the female scurries away

Diver Jules Casey, who captured the footage, said the octopuses’ sexual encounter lasted ‘several hours’

Diver Jules Casey, who captured the footage, said the octopuses’ sexual encounter lasted ‘several hours’. 

‘When I found them they were already together. I watched for about an hour then went home, changed into a dry wetsuit and had lunch. They were still going when I returned,’ she said.

Ms Casey said the video caught ‘the final minute’ of the mating ritual, as one of the octopus ‘slaps’ the other in the face when they’ve ‘had enough’. 

The mating process for octopuses ‘may take up to several hours, depending on the species,’ marine biologists have said.  

The sexual encounter comes a month after Ms Casey captured two southern keeled octopuses mating in an oyster shell.

The video, filmed by in Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, showed the female octopus hiding in a oyster shell, before the male crawled over and perched on top – flaring his eight tentacles. 

In a caption on Instagram, Ms Casey wrote: ‘He then inserts his third modified arm into her mantle to pass the sperm packages’.

Upon finishing the act, the male octopus suddenly changed from a creamy colour to a dark brown before he crawled off and settled on the sand.