Off the coast of Portugal, a diver was engaged in complex underwater repairs when he noticed an octopus hovering nearby. Initially, he dismissed it as the casual curiosity of a sea creature, but the interaction soon evolved into an unexpected collaboration.

Each time the diver struggled—reaching for a specific wrench or accidentally dropping a small bolt to the seafloor—a tentacle would gently slide in, retrieving the tool or item and offering it back to his hand, acting as a quiet, efficient deep-sea partner. The repetition proved the act was far from accidental; it was a conscious effort.

When he surfaced and recounted the tale, his colleagues laughed, dismissing it as a fanciful story created by deep-sea isolation. Determined to prove it, he set up cameras for his next dive.

The resulting footage was undeniable: an octopus calmly observing his work and actively passing tools to a human. The clip went immediately viral, serving as a powerful piece of evidence for the astonishing intelligence and observational learning capabilities of this mollusk species.

When asked about the unique underwater partnership, the diver simply smiled, conceding that the solitude of his work was happily broken by his eight-limbed apprentice:

“I’m just glad I had a little help down there. You couldn’t ask for a better coworker, even if he was a little slimy.”