On April 29th, the Sanibel Captiva Trust Company hosted an exclusive virtual presentation for its clients and friends to unveil OctoCam: a live-stream view of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum’s newest star attraction, the Giant Pacific Octopus.
During the presentation, the Museum educated viewers on how the Giant Pacific Octopus eats, plays, and lives in its environment.
The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company has supported the Museum’s mission for over 20 years and has helped build and launch several strategic initiatives. The Trust Company has also served as advisor by continually having a representative on the Museum’s Board of Trustees. “We have enjoyed a very long relationship with the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum,” said Al Hanser, Founder and Chairman of the Sanibel Captiva Trust Company. “We are delighted to sponsor the OctoCam which will be a tremendous educational tool for children and adults alike.”
The OctoCam live-stream enables viewers to see the Giant Pacific Octopus in its aquarium in real-time. Considering that Giant Pacific Octopuses are generally nocturnal, the stream also includes highlight video footage of some very active moments in case viewers log in to find the octopus is asleep.
“The Museum is grateful for the Sanibel Captiva Trust Company’s sponsorship of OctoCam, which is just one of many new educational programs we plan to launch toward our goal of increasing awareness of mollusks and the impact their livelihood plays in healthy ecosystems locally and globally,” said Sam Ankerson, Executive Director of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum.
The aquariums and living gallery of marine life were added to the Museum’s world-renowned shell collection in March of 2020 and immediately transformed the visitor’s experience by connecting them to the little-known live animals that create the ocean’s stunning shells.
The Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest variety of the intelligent, beautiful, mysterious mollusk species that has captivated people worldwide thanks in part to recent films and books such as My Octopus Teacher and The Soul of An Octopus. The OctoCam is available at ShellMuseum.org/octocam and will enable those who love octopuses to observe one in action and be inspired to learn more.
About the Museum: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is a Natural History Museum, and the only museum in the United States devoted solely to shells and mollusks. Their mission is to connect people to the natural world through their love of shells and the marvelous animals that create them. Their collections, programs, and expertise inspire learning, support scientific research, tell the story of mollusks, and the ocean that they inhabit. There are more mollusks in the oceans than all marine mammals and fish species combined, and mollusks are becoming extinct faster than they can be named due to climate change, ocean acidification, and pollution. For more information on the Museum, please visit www.shellmuseum.org or call (239) 395-2233.
