Gio DeGarimore is the owner of Giovanni’s Fish Market in Morro Bay, California. He is also a diver, and after interacting with octopuses, knows how intelligent they are. Therefore, the shop’s Facebook page declared, Gio decided to take a “moral position,” and not support the sales of “any octopus products.”

So last month, when a local fisherman had a 70-pound octopus for sale, Gio bought the critter, put him in a tank at his market, and named him Fred. No, Fred was not for sale, and he’s pictured courtesy of the market’s Facebook page. Gio’s only intention was to release Fred into the open ocean — which is exactly what he did a few days later. Meanwhile, Fred’s story went viral.

“At the end of the day, Gio said, ‘It might not change the world, but I’m going to do one thing,” a May 15 Facebook post noted, “and if it only makes me and Fred happy, that’s OK too …’”