A quick scroll through YouTube after typing octopus into the search bar will give you a solid idea of just how intelligent these creatures are. They’ve been known not only to unscrew a jar lid to get into it, but they can even unscrew a lid from within it! They can recognize familiar shapes and even faces and are praised for their ability to think outside the box when it comes to hunting, hiding, and fighting.

One thing an octopus had never been hailed for, though, is their emotional intelligence.

That all changed back in 2013, however, when a woman rescued an octopus and it responded in an overwhelming display of gratitude.

The octopus had been washed ashore at high tide and, when the waters receded, found itself in serious danger.

The octopus had become dehydrated on the hot, dry, sandy beach. When the waters pulled back, the poor thing was already too weak to walk itself back into the water. In fact, it was hovering on the brink of death.

Thankfully, a Good Samaritan saw the octopus struggling to breathe and scooped him up in a container to gently slip him into a shallow tide pool. The pool was close enough to the main water that, once recovered, the octopus would easily be able to make it back into the ocean.

When the tiny octopus was slipped into the water, he let himself rest there for quite a while.

As he did, you could see his color basically flicker between a sandy camouflage to a lighter tan color. It’s apparent that he was slowly regaining all of his bodily functions as he was able to breathe and become hydrated once more.

After he’s had a few solid moments to rest and rehydrate, you would think the octopus would make a beeline for deeper waters. Instead, though, the tiny little guy did just the opposite.

The octopus started stretching out its tentacles to slowly walk over to his rescuer.

Fortunately, Pei Yan Heng, the person who scooped the dying octopus from the sand to return him to the water, also managed to get the entire experience on video.

While a person might think the octopus was just disoriented, what it did next indicates that wasn’t the case at all. The little octopus walked all the way over to Heng’s foot. Once it was just an inch or two away, it rested a moment before scooting even closer.

Staring up at his rescuer with his little eyes, the octopus unfurled one of its tentacles and slowly brought it down to rest on Heng’s foot.

With his tentacle still on Heng’s foot, the octopus closes its eyes and rests for a long moment before reopening them to look back up.

The moment is so precious it’s nearly unbelievable.

It truly appears that the sea creature is thanking Heng for his compassion and willingness to save him. Uncharacteristically of octopi, the little guy even puts off his camouflage to make sure his rescuer sees him there, so he knows just how grateful he is.

After a long moment and another brief look of gratitude, the octopus uses its other tentacles to pull himself away.

As he moves toward the water, the small cephalopod keeps his gaze fixed on the person who saved him, as if he wants to remember his rescuer forever.

To see this sweet and rare moment a stranded octopus thanks his rescuer, watch the video below.

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Source: Pei Yan Heng