AN amateur photographer has captured the moment a seagull snatched an octopus out of the sea.
Ken O’Keefe, 62, got the shot as he stood on the shore looking for dolphins.
The seagull dived into the sea around 100 yards from shore and caught the helpless octopus on its third attempt last week.
It then dropped the mollusc on the beach at Kinghorn, Fife, and flew away – but a passing woman lobbed the octopus back into the sea.
O’Keefe, from Glenrothes, Fife, said: “My attention got caught by the seagull.
“It tried to pull the octopus out to start, then circled around and managed to catch it on its third dive.
“The seagull flew about then dropped it on the beach, but didn’t go back for it.
“That was the only thing that happened that day, but it made up for the time spent.”
A retired police officer, O’Keefe has been photographing wildlife in the area for two years but said he has never seen anything like it.
He said: “I’ve been regularly photographing the Fife coastline for the past two years – it’s been a main hobby.
“I’ve shot dolphins from Kinghorn, which are quite regular, but I’ve never seen something like that.
“Maybe fish or things – but never an octopus.
“Apparently an octopus can survive for around 30 minutes out of the water.
“This one was unceremoniously hurled back into the sea by a woman using a stick around the 30-minute mark and the tide didn’t wash it up again so just maybe it survived.”
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