Story of Georgina

I was Theresa's main diving buddy and over several years, we went almost every weekend throughout the year, at least when she wasn't traveling. Theresa loved the water and always wanted to dive more than we did. Every week we went to a new spot and diving always got better and more interesting including such great places as Beaver Point, on Saltspring Island, Arbutus Island in Saanich Inlet, and Race Rocks. Although I was much more experienced than Theresa, she was much braver than I, especially when we were swimming over deep water and she always kept a very close eye on me, cause she knew I was quite nervous from experiences long ago. I learned from her confidence and she thought that she was learning from my great experience, which I didn't really have.

Her favorite dives occurred when we were able to find octopus in their den. These wonderful intelligent animals are very curious and Theresa was overwhelmed by them. She got so excited when we would find an octopus that her breathing rate underwater would double. We would float very still so as not disturb the octopus but as a result we would get colder and colder, although not realizing it at the time how cold we were. After about 15 minutes of watching, we would suddenly become aware that we were almost too cold to move, yet our spirits soared at the privilege of watching the octopus so close, and occasionally allowing it to touch us with its tentacles.

We were fortunate enough to be able to form a bond with another octopus that had been captured and taken to the university for several months where we spent many hours in the lab watching and feeding it. It was called Georgina. In one of the most memorable dives that Theresa and I had, we were able to return Georgina back to her ocean den and watch as she reinvaded her natural world. For this dive and all the others, I am honored to have shared these times with this remarkable woman.

Dr. T. E. Reimchen
Department of Biology, University of Victoria