This website looks pretty legit when you go onto it for the first time. When I was reading it, there was a tiny part of me that actually thought tree octopuses existed. But then I scrolled down to the bottom where they had some additional links and articles and found the following:
- Save the Mountain Walrus, another species in danger of extinction (and of course, the original link to that was down)
- Rock Nest Monster, Known only from its rocky nests and porcelain-like eggs, Cryptogorgo petronidus is so endangered that existential environmentalists wonder if it ever existed at all. (sounds a lot like something else if you ask me)
However, while doing some reseach on the website, I found that there were many people how fell for the website like I did. In reality, all it was was an internet hoax created by Lyle Zapato, who first started posting about the Tree Octopus in 1998, providing images of purported sightings along with general information about the habits and habitat of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Lyle's hoax was so well constructed that many people fell for it and continue to fall for, and the hoax even inspired the term “Tree Octopus Problem” to refer to Internet literacy issues.
And oddly enough, the website I went to was http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/faq.html, probably created by Lyle Zapato.
I think its amazing what people can make you believe on the internet. Anything can look credible, but I guess its up to you to recognize whether or not it really is true.
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