How does the giant pacific octopus care for its young?

Answer 1

(Copied from David Attenborough's life series. Word for word)

Great British Columbia. Home to this 4m long Pacific Giant Octopus. She is a formidable predator but at the moment hunting isn't on her mind. She has just mated for the first time and now she's searching for a safe refuge. She makes her choice carefully this is going to be her home for many months to come. It's her nursery den. A hundred thousand eggs hang from its ceiling and she's guarding them with her life. Without her to protect them they would be eaten by predators or become diseased. She caresses them with her tentacles insuring that algae don't grow on them and that fish don't eat them. She constantly keeps the water moving around them so they're well supplied with oxygen. She cares for them for six months and during all this time she doesn't eat a thing. And now as they are hatching she is dying. One night as the baby octopus emerge she jets water over them for the last time helping them on their way. This will be her final act. This is the only time she will reproduce and to give her young the best chance she sacrifices her life.