Tool-Using Octopii!!

In NOT A CHIMP I very strongly make the point that the fact that chimps can make and use crude tools cannot be taken, prima facie, as evidence for cognitive, taxonomic, and genetic proximity to humans. I use the example of corvid birds, which diverged from mammalian ancestors some 180 million years ago, to make my point. But, it appears, I could have gone much further - to the invertebrates! This delicious story concerns the ability of octopii to discover submerged coconut shells, clean the silt out of them by blowing water through them, and then transporting them up to 20 metres away where they are used as a refuge against predators. If only one half of the shell has been recovered the octopus simply pulls it over its head. If it has managed to salvage the whole shell it simply creeps inside!