Boy Injured When Octopus Grabbed His Arm At Texas Aquarium, His Mom Says

A six-year-old boy was wounded erstwhile an octopus grabbed connected to his limb and wouldn't fto spell aft nan boy reached into a touch vessel astatine nan San Antonio Aquarium, his mother said.

Britney Taryn, nan boy's mom, has gone viral connected TikTok aft posting astir her son's brushwood pinch a elephantine Pacific octopus connected a July 14 visit. The oversea animal attached itself to her boy Leo’s arm, she said, noting that they spell often and person touched nan animal plentifulness of times before.

In immoderate videos, nan boy's limb tin beryllium seen covered successful mini acheronian spots — purple suction bruises from his wrist to his armpit.

Britney Taryn's boy reveals nan marks connected his limb aft nan brushwood pinch nan octopus astatine nan San Antonio Aquarium.BritneyTaryn via TikTok

"He started saying, 'Mom, it's not letting maine go,'" Taryn said successful 1 TikTok video.

It took 3 adults to get nan octopus disconnected nan mini boy's arm, she said.

Shortly aft nan accident, nan San Antonio Aquarium posted a video connected TikTok astir nan bruises this octopus tin time off behind, but did not straight mention to nan communicative Taryn has been sharing. The worker successful nan video said nan bruises are not harmful and will spell distant wrong 7 to 14 days.

Meg Mindlin, an octopus biologist, said octopi "sense and research their environment" utilizing their arms, and trust connected sensation sensors successful their suction cups to understand what is going connected successful their world.

An octopus astatine nan San Antonio Aquarium. San Antonio Aquarium

Taryn's videos person sparked online statement astir whether it's safe for kids to touch these animals, but Taryn has refrained from calling nan mishap an attack. She has said successful videos that she and Leo person since returned to nan San Antonio Aquarium to spot nan aforesaid octopus.

Still, she says she ne'er received immoderate benignant of informing astir what nan octopus could do earlier allowing her kid to interact pinch it. She's taken to societal media, she said, to stock nan informing for others, because while Leo was calm successful nan situation, different children whitethorn not be.

On TikTok, she has campaigned for safer and much comfortable surviving conditions for this animal and others successful akin situations.

Taryn says she has reached retired to nan San Antonio Aquarium and has asked them to decently archive nan incident and for an mentation of nan aquarium's information protocols for erstwhile visitors interact pinch animals. As of a video posted Monday, she had not heard back.