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IFLScience The Big Questions: Are Octopuses Sentient?

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clock-iconPUBLISHEDOctober 17, 2024
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IFLScience The Big Questions: Are Octopuses Sentient?

Evidence for or against sentience could have a significant impact on their rights.

Rachael Funnell headshot

Rachael Funnell

Rachael Funnell headshot

Rachael Funnell

Senior Science Writer

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

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Senior Science Writer

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.View full profile

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

View full profile
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“Sentient” is loosely defined as an animal’s ability to have subjective experiences.

Image credit: Henner Damke/Shutterstock.com; modified by IFLScience

It’s no secret that octopuses are intelligent – but are they sentient? And how is that reflected in the way that they’re treated?

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Host Rachael Funnell is joined by Sy Montgomery, author of Secrets of the Octopus, and Sophika Kostyniuk, Managing Director at the Aquatic Life Institute, to discuss the evidence for octopuses’ sentience, and how that could impact the rights they’re afforded in science, agriculture, and the wider world.

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to the podcast on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcast, Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more. A transcript of the conversation is available here.

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHEDOctober 17, 2024

Written by Rachael Funnell

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