You may or may not have seen Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher when it graced our screens during the pandemic. My Octopus Teacher brought to fore the belief that sentient beings, akin to the octopus, are beyond human consumption. In certain societies, eating polpo has always been taboo: many religions see it as impure and some even view the beast as a monster. Britain, unlike southern Europe, is friendly towards the bottom feeder: following a 2021 report, the Government announced greater welfare provisions for the animal. The eugenicist undertones of such an argument, however obvious, are countered with the claim that octopuses are not only smart, but sentient.