The most well-known of the octopus’s defense mechanisms is its ability to squirt clouds of ink into
the water. Some octopi use this cloud of ink as camouflage; after squirting the ink, the octopus retreats
into the ink cloud where the predator cannot see it. Other octopi use the ink cloud as a decoy. If a large,
intelligent predator such as a shark knows that octopi use ink clouds for camouflage, it might simply
attack the ink cloud blindly, hoping to make contact with the octopus inside. However, some sneaky
octopi will release the ink cloud in one direction and scurry away in another direction, leaving the predator
with nothing but a mouthful of ink. In addition to confusing predators’ sense of sight, these ink clouds also
confuse their sense of smell.