The octopus is the mascot of WAVES and the College of Integrative Sciences. We chose this enigmatic creature for its charisma, curiosity, and malleability. Like the octopus the CIS is flexible, adaptable, inquisitive, highly intelligent, and is focused on reaching out to all sides of Wesleyan’s campus and community.
Recently, scientists announced the discovery of a new octopus:
Galápagos, May 26, 2026 – The Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are home to more than a thousand plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth— things like marine iguanas and giant tortoises. In a new paper in the journal Zootaxa, scientists announced the discovery of the newest animal found in the Galápagos: a tiny blue octopus.
The octopus was first spotted during a 2015 deep-sea expedition conducted aboard the E/V Nautilus, in collaboration with the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galápagos National Park Directorate (GNPD). From the ship, the crew used a remotely operated underwater robot to explore the ocean floor near Darwin Island, an island at the northern edge of the Galapagos archipelago named after the biologist whose work there helped him formulate the theory of evolution.
As the ROV’s camera moved over the sea floor near an underwater mountain, 5,800 feet (1,773 meters) below the water’s surface, the researchers noticed an octopus. The audio from the ROV footage includes the scientists’ first reactions to the animal:
“He’s tiny!”
“It’s blue!”