Paulina Sepa Egas, head researcher of the Charles Darwin Foundation's Marine Collections, holds a container containing a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Close-up of a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Paulina Sepa Egas, head researcher of the Charles Darwin Foundation's Marine Collections, holds a specimen package containing a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Close-up of a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Paulina Sepa Egas, head researcher of the Charles Darwin Foundation's Marine Collections, opens a container containing a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

A preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) is pictured in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Paulina Sepa Egas, head researcher of the Charles Darwin Foundation's Marine Collections, examines a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) with forceps in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)

Close-up of a preserved Galapagos blue octopus (Microeledone galapagensis) in a laboratory in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on September 2, 2026. The strange, golf-ball-sized specimen that dazzled the scientific community has returned to Galapagos Islands to rest at the Charles Darwin Research Station, a showcase of the planet's astonishing species. (Photo by Carlos ESPINOSA / AFP via Getty Images)