Overview
- Cornwall Wildlife Trust compiled landings and sightings totaling about 233,000 octopuses in 2025, roughly 13 times typical levels in Cornish waters.
- Divers and volunteers reported unusual groupings, seabed walking, mating, and individuals grabbing cameras in shallow water from Penzance to south Devon.
- The surge followed a mild winter and warm spring that boosted larval survival, with abundant spider crabs possibly providing additional food.
- Fisheries saw disruption to lobster and crab catches but also windfalls, including a £158,000 mostly octopus haul landed at Newlyn in June.
- The Wildlife Trusts’ review also recorded major coastal pollution this year—a North Sea plastic pellet spill and nearly 4.5 tonnes of bio-beads at Camber Sands—and experts say another bloom is possible in 2026.