Watch Diver Fight Octopus for GoPro: 'Eight-Armed Robber'

An "unusual" video has emerged online showing a diver battling with an octopus over a stolen GoPro camera.

The incident occurred earlier this month in Jervis Bay, which is on the coast of New South Wales in southeastern Australia.

So far, the video has racked up more than 1.2 million views on Facebook and has received over 47,000 reactions. The clip was posted to the Facebook page Jervis Bay Through My Eyes run by Maree Clout, who told Newsweek she has lived in the area all her life.

Clout said she started snorkeling in the bay, which is rich in biodiversity, around five years ago. Currently, she heads out once or twice a week with her friends Pary Vlandis and Michelle Stewart.

"It's nothing for us to be in the water for two hours or more—even in winter," Clout told Newsweek. "Winter is the best time for snorkeling here in the bay. The Port Jackson sharks and giant cuttlefish visit, and then there is the gorgeous gloomy octopus."

On July 5, Clout and her friends were out in the water when an "unusual" event occurred, she said in the Facebook post.

"A young guy appeared next to us and when I asked him if he was OK, he replied that he needed our help. I had all sorts of dilemmas go through my mind. I asked him what was wrong and his reply was, 'An octopus took my camera.'"

"He took us to where he last saw his camera and sure enough...there was the eight-armed 'robber' with each of them tightly wrapped around the GoPro," Clout said.

After filming the cheeky octopus hugging his "loot", Clout dove down and tried to pick up the handle that the camera was attached to as Vlandis—who runs the Facebook page All Things Jervis Bay—filmed the events. But the octopus did not make things easy.

"He really didn't want to let it go, so I had no choice to lift the GoPro up.. with [the octopus] on it. Man, he was heavy! I wiggled the camera sideways a few times and he reluctantly let go," Clout said. "Poor occy made his way back to his girlfriend on the rock and sulked lol."

Clout said she had learnt to love octopuses and was not too worried about trying to get the camera back.

"We often watch the comings and goings of these guys," she told Newsweek. "If we give them a little gift, usually a shell, they will immediately reach out their tentacles to grab it."

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