Watch This Robotic Octopus Swim Through the Open Sea (VIDEO)

It looks like a creature from the deep. With its multiple tentacles and quick movements, the octopus appears like it could be alive--but it's not. The octopus is actually a robot that scientists have been working on for the past few years and now, they've unveiled the robotic device.

Researchers are continuing to turn to biological organisms for inspiration when it comes to robots. For example, scientists recently created a robotic cheetah that can run across a lawn. By examining how nature functions, researchers can mimic these biological designs in robotics, creating more efficient systems.

The robot octopus sports a soft and supple silicone web that has nearly doubled the speed of the "roboctopus" in comparison to its previous incarnation, according to IEEE. In addition, researchers have programmed the robot to be able to crawl, carry objects and swim.

The new video that the researchers have released debuts the new robot. The first part of the video shows the octopus swimming while the second part shows off its crawling capabilities. In the third clip, you can see how the octopus can hold an object while swimming and in the fourth, you can view the robot actually interacting in open water; the robot can interact with currents and still manages to swim.

In the future, the robot could be used to observe ocean life without disturbing it too much. Because small fish followed the robot around without being bothered by it, scientists are hopeful for its future applications.

The new robot was presented last week at the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2014 in Chicago.

Want to see the robot swimming for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.