Dylan Mayer went above and beyond for a recent homework project.

The 20-year-old Seattle resident had a friend who wanted something in nature for an art project. So Mayer, being an expert diver, went to the Puget Sound to capture octopus. When he came to shore, other divers started yelling at him, saying the kill was unethical. Mayer ignored them and dumped the octopus in his truck.

"I eat it for meat," Mayer told KOMO News in Seattle. "It's no different than fishing. It's just a different animal."

As photos of Mayer and the octopus have surfaced, divers around the world are claiming that the animal was a female who was nursing eggs, and that Mayer should not have killed it. Mayer says he has received dozens of threatening e-mails and phone calls.

But Mayer consulted with a game warden, Wendy Willette, who said the catch was legal.

"I think the timing, manner and place where the harvest occurred may be the issue," Willette told KOMO News. "It could have been done at a better time. It's like deer hunting. You don't kill a deer while kids are viewing it, and I think it's a similar problem here. You need to be sensitive to other drivers and people if you're going to be a sportsman."

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