Photo of the Week: A Fine Specimen

Now part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Benthic Invertebrate Collection, this octopus was collected from Bikini Atoll on Oct. 21, 1952, ten days prior to the detonation of the first true hydrogen bomb.

Photographs of this octopus and other "Treasures from the Scripps Collections" taken by alumna Oriana Poindexter are on public exhibit on the ground floor of the Eckart Building through the end of May. Poindexter is a 2015 graduate of the Master of Advanced Studies Program in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.

The Scripps Collections of marine vertebrates, pelagic vertebrates, benthic invertebrates and geological samples house millions of specimens used for scientific research and education. Some items date from before Scripps' founding in 1903.

The octopus was collected during the Capricorn Expedition when Scripps scientists aboard the research vessels Horizon and Spencer F. Baird were in the Pacific for a joint effort with the U.S. Navy to observe the effects of thermonuclear testing. This was the first Scripps expedition to carry scientific SCUBA divers.

The Treasures exhibit will be on display at other locations in San Diego and Oceanside in late May and June:

Related Image Gallery: Photo of the Week 2019