Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

This story originally appeared at InspireMore.

By now, everyone is aware of ocean pollution. After all, plastic is one of the greatest threats to underwater ecosystems across the world.

Pall Sigurdsson, a Switzerland-based engineer and diver, spots pieces of trash all the time during his aquatic explorations. In fact, he’s even watched animals try to make homes out of discarded waste.

Photo: Facebook/Pall Sigurdsson

So when Pall and his team came across an adorable coconut octopus (also known as a veined octopus) wearing a plastic cup instead of a shell during a dive in Lembeh, Indonesia, they knew they had to help.

Screen Shot: YouTube/
Pall Sigurdsson

These small creatures are known to protect themselves by creating makeshift homes out of clamshells or coconuts, but this one had apparently gotten sidetracked by a small cup.

This was a major problem because the see-through plastic offered the octopus little protection from predators — and would endanger anything that consumed the plastic along with the smaller animal. Thankfully, Pall knew what to do.

Screen Shot: YouTube/
Pall Sigurdsson

He started offering his little friend different shells, but the animal wasn’t about to settle for just any old covering.

“Coconut octopus are famous for being very picky about which shells they keep,” Pall explained. “We had to try with many different shells before it found one to be acceptable.”

So Pall and the others dedicated the rest of their dive to finding this tiny animal the right home — nearly running out of oxygen in the process! Eventually, they found a winner! But when the octopus transferred over to its new abode, it brought the cup with it.

Screen Shot: YouTube/
Pall Sigurdsson

The divers weren’t too worried because the octopus just needed a little time and space to ditch the plastic for good.

Screen Shot: YouTube/
Pall Sigurdsson

Then the confused creature tried to leave without anything to hide under, so Pall carefully placed another shell over it. That was much better!

Screen Shot: YouTube/
Pall Sigurdsson

While pollution is still a major problem, we’re so glad people like Pall are doing their part to protect our oceans. Let’s all remember this adorable little octopus the next time we see anything discarded on the beach (or anywhere, really). We have the power to save our planet! All it takes is a little effort.

Watch Pall help the cute cephalopod choose a new shell in the video below, and share to encourage others to care for nature!

Subscribe to 12 Tomatoes