Seattle Aquarium cancels octopus mating event, fears cannibalism

Kong weighs 70 pounds and aquarim officials say finding a suitable mate is difficult. (Facebook/Seattle Aquarium)

Seattle, Wash. — To celebrate Valentine's Day, officials at the Seattle Aquarium thought it would be cool to allow visitors to watch a live mating between two octopi.

The annual octopus mating event is open to the public and was set to take place on Sunday at noon.

But acquarium workers couldn't find an appropriate mate for Kong, a 70-pound octopus. They canceled the "blind date" event because they feared he would eat any female octopus they would potentially pair him with. All of the ones they had considered are 30-40 pounds -- half his weight.

Instead, divers swam with the giant "bachelor" octopus while visitors watched.