TACOMA, Wash. — A new female giant Pacific octopus has a new home in the Pacific Seas Aquarium at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, and the zoo has invited the community to help choose a name.
Aquarists at the zoo have chosen six names, and the public can vote on their favorite.
The names are:
- Gertie, a reference to the legend Galloping Gertie, the largest octopus in the world that lives in the underwater ruins of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
- Narrows, a reference to the two bridges that connect Tacoma to Gig Harbor.
- Ceph, short for cephalopod.
- Octavia, the Latin origin of “eighth.”
- Ms. 8, a reference to the eight tentacles.
- Ophelia, a character in “Hamlet” by Shakespeare.
People can vote until midnight on Aug. 23, and results will be announced on Aug. 24.
Vote on the zoo’s website here.
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