Ink(tober)

23 Oct 2016

Ink(tober)

Many species of octopus, squid and cuttlefish have multiple methods of hiding themselves from predators. One area of particular interest recently is dynamic camouflage, where cephalopods quickly change the pattern and colour of their skin to match their surroundings. Another well known method is to release a cloud of ink to confuse and deter predators. A further way they can confuse predators is to increase the amount of mucus mixed with the ink released to create a more solid-looking blob. This floating blob of ink, known as a pseudomorph, is used as a decoy target for predators to attack.

Jess has been doing the Inktober challenge this year for the first time, experimenting with ink. We thought it might be interesting to do a comic completely in ink and inkwash rather than digital. You can see some of her other Inktober work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessica_emmett/

↓ Transcript
Professor Panda: When the university gave you a grant for Cephalopod-based camouflage, they thought you were studying colour changing chomatophores.

Dr Mad: I was deliberately vague!