Episode details

Radio 4,11 Sep 2026,53 mins

Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus

Rare Earth

Available for over a year

Cornish fishermen this summer have had their usual catch of lobster and crab replaced by voracious octopus. Restaurant menus have had to be wiped and rewritten across the south-west, but what else has changed? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski ask why octopus have such a hold on our imagination and the science world, why the octopus has moved north and what its journey can tell us about the changing oceans. Joining Tom and Helen are the writer Sy Montgomery, marine biologist Dr Keith Hiscock MBE and octopus neuroscientist Dr Amy Courtney of the Marine Biological Association. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Assistant Producer: Toby Field

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