Scientists saw hundreds of octopuses and watched their babies hatch.
A previously undiscovered octopus nursery has been found by marine scientists almost two miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Coasta Rica, according to Huffington Post. This remarkable discovery has the potential to contribute to enhanced protection measures for the surrounding area, the outlet further said quoting the researchers. The brooding site was found during a three-week expedition by a team of 20 scientists earlier this month.
Describing how significant the discovery is, Dr Jyotika Virmani, an executive director at the Schmidt Ocean Institute, said in a statement published on the non-profit's webite, "The discovery of a new active octopus nursery over 2,800 meters beneath the sea surface in Costa Rican waters proves there is still so much to learn about our ocean." The international team of scientists embarked on their ocean expedition aboard the research vessel Falkor, owned by the institute.
During their voyage, the scientists explored the Dorado Outcrop, a rock formation where, in 2013, octopus mothers were observed gathering to brood their eggs - a phenomenon never before witnessed by researchers, said the Huffington Post report. However, at the time, it was unclear whether the nursery was viable. Deep-sea octopuses prefer cold temperatures, but the proximity of the outcrop to a hydrothermal vent creates warmer waters compared to the surrounding area, as reported by Gizmodo.
On their latest mission, the scientists confirmed that the Dorado Outcrop is indeed an "active nursery" and observed the hatching of baby octopuses, the outlet further said. Additionally, they made the remarkable discovery of another previously unknown nursery in the same general vicinity. Alongside an existing nursery off the coast of Monterey, California, these findings bring the total number of known octopus nurseries to three.
Dr Rachel Lauer, a geoscience professor at the University of Calgary in Canada, enthusiastically described her reaction to the discoveries made during the expedition, stating, "I was bouncing off the walls."
The octopuses found in the nurseries near Costa Rica belong to the Muusoctopus genus - small to medium-sized deep-sea octopuses that lack ink sacs. The scientists suspect that the observed octopuses may represent a potentially new species of Muusoctopus, although this has not been confirmed.
This research has implications for determining whether the seamounts in the area where the nurseries are located should be protected from human activities. Currently, there are no specific protections in place.
Dr Jorge Cortes Nunez, a biology professor at the Universidad de Costa Rica, expressed the awe-inspiring nature of the deep sea, stating, "For the majority of people, the ocean is just another body of water. They can't imagine what's there. The seafloor is 3 kilometres below us, and what we are seeing is a whole other world down there."