Listen and read-along with this awesome poem by, Jan Fenimore.

This creature lives in the depths of the sea,

down where it’s dark among the algae.

In fact, he’s so deep he’s pretty much free

from predators roaming the deep blue sea.

He’s called a Dumbo because of his ears

but looks more umbrella-like as he nears

with eight webbed tentacles he appears

almost space-like which might cause some fears.

Dumbo’s pounce on their prey and eat them whole,

they don’t take time to put them in a bowl

or eat them with a side and a buttery roll

they’ll grab them from a current while out for a stroll.

He can flap his ears and move with grace

or shoot water through a funnel to up the pace

crawling on tentacles changes his place

But he doesn’t shoot ink to erase his face.

THE END

Did You Know the Dumbo Octopus…

• Has been found living in New Zealand and Australia, the west coast of the US, the Philippines and Papua, New Guinea?
• Live deeper in the ocean than any octopus species, hovering above the ocean floor? This is because their bodies have adjusted to the intense pressure and cold temperatures at that depth. 
• Are rarely caught in fishing nets or have their life style interrupted by human activity?
• Move by flapping their ear-like fins and use their tentacles to steer?
• Predators are diving fish and marine mammals, such as tuna, sharks, and dolphins?
• Species is named because of their ears which resemble Dumbo, the flying elephant of Disney fame?
• Has eight webbed tentacles?
• Can be very small or as large as 6 feet and weigh as much as 13 pounds?
• Don’t squirt ink as camouflage like other octopus’ species and can reproduce all year round?