Only a handful of people have spotted the dazzling blanket octopus in the wild, making it one of the rarest sights in the marine world.
Last week, the Technicolor marine mollusk was spotted by reef guide and marine biologist Jacinta Shackleton off the coast of Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
“When I first saw it, I thought it could have been a juvenile fish with long fins, but as it came closer, I realized it was a female blanket octopus, and I had this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement,” she said.
“I kept yelling through my snorkel: ‘It’s a