B.C. woman captures incredible video of giant Pacific octopus

An astonishing video of what appears to be a giant Pacific octopus in the waters of British Columbia has garnered millions of views on social media.

Brooke Sattar, of Port Alberni, B.C., was out on the waters of the Alberni Inlet when the massive octopus appeared.

She was with her family placing prawn traps last week, and when they went to retrieve one of them, the octopus was clinging to the side of the trap.

"I grew up out there and never have I seen an octopus just totally grabbing onto a prawn trap," Sattar told CTV News on Friday. "It was super cool."

The Port Alberni woman says the octopus, which she estimates was about 2.4 metres long (eight feet), clung to the side of the trap for two to three minutes before letting go and swimming away.

"It definitely felt way longer than that, but it wasn't long at all," she said.

Sattar posted the video on Tik Tok on Wednesday, and by Friday afternoon it had received more than 33.8 million views.

She says she didn't expect the video to be so popular, but she's happy that people around the world can get a glimpse of B.C.

"I always love sharing the beauty of Vancouver Island and all these experiences that not everyone gets to experience," she said.