Tentacle Teeth

FYI Manly is the name of the town from which this man hails. I cannot vouch for his masculinity.

DIVER WRESTLES TEETH FROM OCTOPUS

December 19, 2008

BELIEVE it or not.

When Manly diver David Baxter emerged from the water clutching a set of false teeth he had wrestled from the tentacles of an octopus he knew he would have trouble convincing people his tale was true.

“In 20 years of diving it’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever encountered,” he said.

The proof was the set of dentures, complete with algae, that he had recovered from the Manly swimming enclosure between the wharf and Oceanworld while filming seahorses. Mr Baxter said he first saw a common octopus in a crevice, its two eyes visible and a tentacle draped just below in a Bela Lugosi pose. It was also clutching a row of false teeth.

Mr Baxter is a bit of an octopus aficianado - he showed a blue- ringed octopus at the recent Ocean Care display - and he knows they have beaks not teeth. The octopus had “sucked up” the teeth, presumably from the seabed floor, with its tentacles.

“I never expected to have an octopus smiling back at me,” he said. “I was so startled I spat my regulator out.”

Mr Baxter assumes someone dropped them while swimming, - perhaps they coughed or sneezed.

Knowing how expensive dentures are he gently prised the teeth from the tentacles and is hoping they can be returned to their owners.

They probably haven’t been in the water that long - they are still in great condition other than a little algae posing as plaque.

If these are your chompers we’ve got our tentacles out for the full story. Please phone Undertow on 9976 1941 for their retrieval and a story to last a lifetime.

Originally spotted on The Daily Telegraph, who pointed me to the Manly Daily.