Viral Video Of Woman's Incredible Bond With Octopus Mom Leaves The Internet Stunned

The octopus is a truly remarkable animal. 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. Thanks to one caring Marine Biologist, a mother octopus had the chance to keep her babies safe after they'd washed up onto shore.

"Every morning, I walk along the beach," Sheree Marris said in the clip tweeted by The Dodo. "While I was walking, I saw this plastic pipe. All I could see were these suckers and these arms."

She continued: "And then she came out and it's then that I saw she had these eggs. Her babies. And then she started pushing the pipe back into the water, which was absolutely extraordinary."

Marris explained that octopuses have soft bodies that make them "vulnerable to predators," so, "they need to be really clever about where they hide." She added that some who fish will "deliberately sink these tubes," hoping that an octopus will "take up residence."

"We're going to save her and they're not going to eat these octopuses. Because we were so worried about her washing back up on the beach, I found some brick and some rope and I put her out a bit deeper where I knew she wouldn't roll back up."

Marris swam to check in on the octopus she named "Casey," because it means "warrior mother," to make sure she and her babies remained safe. Later, the weather picked up. Marris swam out to find that the tube that once held Casey and her babies had vanished.

Weeks passed before the marine biologist found Casey in seagrass "about 2 kilometers" from where she first put the octopus. A tube with her eggs was nearby. With the help of a friend, they created a sturdier tube so she wouldn't roll up to shore again.

Marris documented her special bond with Casey on her Instagram page. The 22nd and final update of their journey together came on December 12.

"THE END

We all knew it was coming, but it still hurt my heart a little. Who would have thought you could get so attached to a jet powered, colour-changing contortionist and super-mum with three hearts that pump blue blood?" she captioned the video in part.

"Swimming out I knew there was a high probability that Casey wouldn't be there. As her recycled plastic pipe came into view, my stomach sank as it had moved and I couldn't see Casey's trademark rusty red skin inside. There was no trace of her or her babies, which had hatched and were hopefully jetting about the bay living their best life," she said.

"Thank you for saving her Sheree & giving the next generation of Caseys a fighting chance," @onebreathdiver wrote on Instagram.

"What an incredible experience - thank you for helping her and her babies," @propertystaged said.

@coco.bear_and_shimla said what many others re-iterated: "Tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for saving her and looking out for her."