Warmer seas bring a record number of octopuses to UK waters.

A wildlife charity has proclaimed 2025 as “the Year of the Blooming Octopus” following the sighting of record numbers off the southwest coast of England.

In its annual marine review, the Wildlife Trusts says octopus numbers were this summer at their highest level since 1950.

Scientists attribute the population spike, known as a “bloom”, to warmer winters linked to climate change.

The charity’s findings are backed up by official figures which show that more than 1,200 tonnes of octopus were caught by fishermen in UK waters in the summer of 2025.

It’s a dramatic increase compared to previous years. Landings of more than 200 tonnes of octopus have only occurred once since 2021.

Experts say most of those spotted are Octopus vulgaris, a species commonly seen in the warmer Mediterranean Sea.

Wildlife Trusts volunteers in Cornwall and Devon reported an increase of more than 1,500 per cent on 2023 figures along one stretch of the south coast.

“It really has been exceptional,” says Matt Slater from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

We’ve seen octopuses jet-propelling themselves along. We’ve seen octopuses camouflaging themselves; they look just like seaweed.

“We’ve seen them cleaning themselves. And we’ve even seen them walking, using two legs just to nonchalantly cruise away from the diver underwater.”

It’s unclear at this point whether the rise in numbers is permanent or cyclical, which would mean octopus numbers returning to more typical levels after this year’s bloom.

The eight-armed cephalopods eat shellfish, such as lobster, crabs, and scallops, so the Wildlife Trusts warn that if population numbers remain high, both fishing and eating habits may have to change.

“They are having an impact on those (shellfish) species around our shores.

And as a consequence, they will be having an impact on our fishing industry, which targets those species as well,” Ruth Williams, the head of marine for The Wildlife Trusts, told the BBC’s Today programme.

“However, there are opportunities, and our fishing industry is currently conducting research to adapt to the changing fisheries resulting from climate change.”

Government data shows crab landings are down compared to previous years, but catches of lobster, crawfish, and scallops are stable.

Alongside good news for octopus lovers, the Wildlife Trusts’ marine review contains more sobering news.

Environmental disasters, including a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship in the North Sea, bookend this year, according to the Trusts.

in March, spilling giant quantities of plastic resin pellets, and nearly 4.5 tonnes of bio-beads were released from a water treatment plant in Sussex in November.

There was some better news for wildlife elsewhere, with a record 46,000 puffins recorded on Skomer, Pembrokeshire.

while the charismatic black and white bird has made a comeback on the Isle of Muck following conservation efforts by Ulster Wildlife Trust to remove invasive brown rats.