You might have heard of a “whisperer;” a person who has special skills to calm and train animals. Some of the most well-known whisperers work with horses or dogs. American Wilson Menashi discovered long ago that he too had this kind of gift. However, the animal he feels closely connected to, the octopus, rarely has contact with people. But that never stopped Menashi, now 84, from continuing to help aquarium workers who call him the octopus whisperer. Menashi retired from a career as a chemical engineer 25 years ago. Shortly thereafter, he began volunteering at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Since then, the aquarium says he has spent 7,800 hours working there with octopuses. The time is equal to nearly four years of full-time work. “I’ve been able to interact with them from the beginning,” Menashi told the Associated Press about his involvement with octopuses. “I do not know why, I cannot explain it, but I can connect with them,” he added.