A giant octopus may have been looking for a date when it attacked a submarine off of Vancouver Island last fall.

The remote-operated vehicle, by Suboceanic Sciences Canada, was checking salmon research equipment 55 metres beneath the surface off Brooks Peninsula, on the northwest coast of the Island, on Nov. 18.

Underwater footage from the incident shows the octopus attacking the sub, first by attaching a couple of arms to an underwater cable. The octopus then reached another one of its eight arms out to grab the vehicle.

A nervous Mike Wood, of Suboceanic Sciences Canada, was operating the ROV and slammed on the thrusters when the octopus attacked. He ended up blasting the approximate 45-kilogram octopus with water, silt and seashells to get rid of it.

"I was very nervous," Wood said. "They (octopuses) have got a parrot beak and can bite with the pressure of 1,000 pounds. There's a cable which it could have been nicked or (it could have cut the) umbilical cable."

The umbilical cable is what keeps the $200,000 vehicle connected to its operator.

Wood said the noctural animal's behaviour was strange. "It was very unusual because octopuses don't normally come out and hunt during the daylight," he said.

The waters around B.C. provide perfect living conditions for the giant Pacific Octopus. They are among the largest in the world, with almost a four-metre arm span.

Octopuses not only have tentacles lined with suction cups, but they can change the colour of their skin to neon bright colours to hide from predators.

Some octopuses will show they are interested in mating by flashing bright colours to attract a partner.

Jim Cosgrove, an octopus expert at the Royal B.C. Museum, believes the octopus may have been senile.

"It could have been looking for a meal or looking for a girlfriend," Cosgrove said. "It's difficult to know what exactly it was doing or why it wanted to make contact with the ROV for whatever reason."

The octopus attack was not the first time the ROV was approached by giant animal. It was pushed and bumped last year by Luna, the lonely killer whale who was separated from his pod.

With files from CTV's Jim Beatty