2-September-2009: As ROPOS touches down on the sediment next to a CORK drillhead, an octopus watches warily from its lair at Ocean Drilling Platform 1026B (2660m below sea level). When ROPOS grasps an anemone-festooned rope, the startled animal shrinks into a pink ball. A short while later, as ROPOS prepares to fasten the rope to the drillhead, the octopus first lurks in the sediment, then flaps its web and flies off into the darkness.