[imagesource: Instagram / shereemarris]

You might have felt a cephalopod-shaped hole missing from your heart ever since watching the incredible human-animal bonding going on in My Octopus Teacher – the South African documentary that famously won an Oscar.

Well, have no fear. We have found you another heartwarming, tear-jerking bonding moment between one caring Australian marine biologist and a mother octopus.

Sheree Marris, self-described as an “aquaholic”, was walking along the beach one morning she stumbled upon some “suckers and these arms” crawling out of a plastic pipe.

After some investigating, Marris noticed that the octopus was protecting her eggs, which she’d laid in the pipe, and was trying to push them back into the water.

Marris described seeing that as “absolutely extraordinary” and sought to make the pipe more stable in the ocean with a brick and some rope.

She also started a journey of bonding with the mother cephalopod. She named her “Casey”, which means “warrior mother”, and regularly checked in on her.

The story was documented on her Instagram account:

 

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A post shared by Sheree Marris (@shereemarris)

I assume Marris and Casey are in Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne, based on Marris’ hashtags.

The Dodo rounded up the best Instagram videos to create one comprehensive story:

Woman sees an octopus rolling her eggs into the ocean — then she spends months helping to make sure her babies hatch safely 🐙💓 @shereemarris pic.twitter.com/I39yGhAGCE

— The Dodo (@dodo) December 13, 2021

Newsweek reported on just how much of a warrior octopus moms can be:

According to the National Wildlife Federation, males die soon after mating while females hang on until the eggs have hatched.

She can lay anywhere from 200 000 to 400 000 eggs at a time and she’ll do anything to protect them.

Marris had given Casey an extra fighting chance, all the way to the very end.

On December 12, the 22nd and final update of their journey together wrapped up:

 

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A post shared by Sheree Marris (@shereemarris)

Excuse me, I have to go wipe the tears and snot from my face now.

[source:newsweek]