“Sharktopus”: Octopus Rides on Mako Shark’s Back (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Mar 23, 2025 7:06 PM ET

There’s this Instagram account out there. It gained popularity a little while back, but seems to have gone dormant since. What was it? @InterspeciesFriendship, and it showed, as you may have guessed, different types of animals, unlikely pairings, being buddies. Cute stuff. A piglet and a kitten. A goat and a duck. A hamster and a turtle. The list goes on, but you get the gist.

Anyway, there’s some new footage that’s been making the rounds, which would’ve been perfect for the interspecies friendship account, had it not ceased to post. It shows an octopus hitching a ride on a shark, somewhere in New Zealand. And it also has researchers perplexed. Check it out below.

Marine ecologist Rochelle Constantine explained the sighting:

“It was back in December 2023, when our research team was on the University of Auckland’s vessel looking for workups – feeding frenzies – in the Hauraki Gulf near Kawau Island.

“A large metallic grey dorsal fin signaled a big shark, a short-fin mako. But wait, what was that orange patch on its head? A buoy? An injury? We launched the drone, put the GoPro in the water and saw something unforgettable: an octopus perched atop the shark’s head, clinging on with its tentacles.

“This `sharktopus’ was a mysterious find indeed – octopus are mostly on the seabed while short-fin mako sharks don’t favor the deep.”

A mystery. They couldn’t figure it out.

Thankfully, this “sharktopus” was nothing like the comedy horror flick from 2010 of the same name. The logline reads:

“A half-shark and half-octopus creature created for the military creates a whole lot of terror in Mexico, while the scientist who helped to create it tries to either capture or kill it.”

Although…that does sound kinda epic.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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