Picture this: you are taking a nice walk on the beach when you look down at the sand below and see something troubling— a beached octopus fighting for its life. What do you do? Do you allow nature to take its course, or do you decide to brave the potential slimy encounter and intervene?

Did you choose the latter? If so, then good for you, because repeating the action in real life might just mean you will have quite the story to tell. You see, a Good Samaritan walking near the Cyrene Reef in Singapore experienced a similar scenario, and ended up with incredible footage to prove it.

In his now-viral video, YouTuber Pei Yan Heng turns on his camera right after he spots the octopus struggling on the sand. According to the uploader, he first noticed the cephalopod after seeing that the tide had become very low and that the animal hadn’t made it back into the receding water in time.

Instead of letting the sea creature perish on the shore, he decided to take the matter into his own hands by scooping the octopus up in a container and re-introducing it back into the ocean. It’s a bold move, especially considering not everyone is exactly comfortable with handling a slimy animal like this.

After Pei Yan Heng gets his new friend safely back in the water, some serious magic happens. The octopus re-orients itself and even shows off some impressive camouflaging abilities.

It seems to be regaining its health when suddenly it approaches the man’s foot and does something really extraordinary. It’s plain as day that the sea creature knows it’s going to make it. Talk about gratitude!

The mysterious language of the octopus

Although these creepy, crawly creatures may not look like the most intelligent of beings, plenty of scientific research says otherwise. As it turns out, octopuses are quite the deft communicators. They aren’t necessarily the most social of animals, but they sure do know how to get their points across!

Marine biologists have recently zeroed in on the cephalopods in hopes that they can decode their “language”. So far, the scientists have come to find that octopuses use their color-changing abilities not just to camouflage themselves from predators, but also as a way of talking with one another.

For instance, if an octopus comes across another and quickly displays dark colors, it is likely ready to fight. On the other hand, if the little dude stays pale, he is basically saying “I surrender!”

And though there’s no way to tell what this particular octopus was feeling when released back into the ocean, we think it definitely seemed grateful.

Pretty amazing stuff! To see the beautiful video of a man saving one of these fascinating creatures, be sure to click on the clip below. He sure did earn that thank you!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this unlikely encounter. Have you ever experienced a similar situation with an octopus before? If so, what happened? What is your favorite sea creature?