Stranded octopus rescued from Cramond Beach Published duration 10 November 2017

image copyright Scottish SPCA

An octopus found on an Edinburgh beach has been rescued and returned to the sea.

A woman spotted the mollusc stranded on the sand at Cramond Beach on Thursday. It was then moved to a rockpool by another member of the public.

The Scottish SPCA was then called out, with the charity later confirming that the octopus had been washed out to sea with the next tide.

An octopus can only survive out of water for about 30 minutes.

image copyright Scottish SPCA

Sarah Auldsmith, Scottish SPCA's animal rescue officer said: "An octopus should only be out of the water for 30 minutes at a time depending on weather conditions so it was very lucky to be spotted when it was.

"When I arrived at the beach a member of the public had already managed to move it into a nearby rock pool as the tide was so far out.

"We wouldn't advise the public to touch these octopuses as they have sharp beak like mouths which are used to catch their prey of lobsters, crabs and fish, and can also release toxins.

"We sent out an animal welfare officer this morning and we're pleased to report it has now gone out with the last tide."

image copyright Scottish SPCA