GETTY IMAGES X3 ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT
If you’ve watched the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher or been lucky enough to encounter an octopus in the wild, you’ll know there’s something special about them. There’s a certain look in their eyes and a sense that they’re curious animals leading complex lives.
Since 2022, it’s been enshrined in UK law that octopuses – along with all vertebrates and a few other invertebrates – are sentient beings. They’re now legally recognised as having the capacity to feel things such as pleasure, comfort, pain and fear.