Warmer seas are bringing a record number of octopuses to UK waters

A wildlife charity has declared 2025 the “Year of the Blooming Octopus” after record numbers were spotted off the southwest coast of England.

In its annual marine review, the Wildlife Trusts says octopus numbers this summer were at their highest level since 1950.

Warmer winters, linked to climate change, are thought to be responsible for the population rise, which is known as the ‘bloom’.

The charity’s findings are supported by official figures showing fishermen caught more than 1,200 tonnes of octopus in UK waters in the summer of 2025.

This is a significant increase from previous years. Only once since 2021 have more than 200 tons of octopus been landed.

Experts say most of those spotted are the common octopus, a species common in the warmer Mediterranean. Wildlife Trusts volunteers in Cornwall and Devon have reported an increase in sightings of more than 1,500 percent compared to 2023 figures along one stretch of the south coast.

“It was really extraordinary,” says Matt Slater of Cornwall Wildlife Trust. “We’ve seen octopuses pushing themselves along the way. We’ve seen octopuses camouflage themselves, they look just like seaweed.

“We’ve seen them groom themselves. We’ve even seen them walk using only their two feet to carelessly move away from the diver underwater.”

It is unclear at this stage whether the rise in numbers is permanent or cyclical, meaning octopus numbers will return to more typical levels after this year’s bloom.

The eight-armed cephalopod eats shellfish such as lobster, crab and scallops, so the Wildlife Trusts warn that if population numbers remain high, their fishing and eating habits may have to change.

Ruth Williams, head of marine affairs at the Wildlife Trusts, told the BBC’s Today programme: “It is impacting those species (shellfish) around our beaches. As a result, it will have an impact on our fishing industry which targets these species as well.”

“But there are opportunities, and our fishing industry is doing some research on that at the moment to try to evolve with the changing fisheries that we are seeing as a result of climate change.”

Government data shows Crab numbers have declined compared to previous years, but catches of lobster, lobster and scallops have remained stable.

Besides the good news for octopus lovers, the Wildlife Trusts’ marine review has more worrying news.

The funds say that this year witnessed environmental disasters, with a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship in the North Sea last March. Large quantities of plastic resin granulesAnd almost 4.5 tonnes of biobeads have been released from a water treatment plant in Sussex In November.

There was some good news for wildlife elsewhere, with a record 46,000 puffins recorded on Skomer, Pembrokeshire, while the attractive black and white bird has returned to Mook Island following conservation efforts by the Ulster Wildlife Trust to remove invasive brown rats.