An Irishman who posed for a picture with a blue ringed octopus said he had no idea it could kill him.
John Paul Lennon, 24, was fishing in Bundaberg near Brisbane in Australia when he came across one of the most deadly animals in the world.
Not realising the possible danger, the fisherman tried to put the animal on his arm to take a picture.
The blue-ringed octopus is native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and carries enough venom to kill 26 adults in just minutes.
The Irishman's friend Ross Saunders shared the video of Lennon's close call on social media, where he discovered that his pal was lucky to be alive.
Saunders told 7News Brisbane: We realised it was an octopus, we didn’t realise what kind of octopus it was.
“He’s been trying to get pictures with koalas, that kinda stuff. And he wanted a picture with the octopus on his arm.”
Lennon explained that he had no idea how dangerous the killer octopus was.
He added: "I didn't know at the time I was asking everyone if it was dangerous, and everybody told me no, so I thought it would be OK to get a photo.
"It's been on my mind constantly, just thinking what could have happened.
"I guess it's lucky I didn't keep it on my arm for the photo."
