They couldn't believe their eyes when scientists discovered a veritable city of octopuses in the deep sea off California. A wonderful nursery where in addition to their parents there were many babies and as many eggs preserved in the cracks of an ancient underwater volcano
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
They couldn't believe their eyes when scientists discovered a veritable city of octopuses in the deep sea off California. A wonderful nursery where in addition to their parents there were many babies and as many eggs preserved in the cracks of an ancient underwater volcano.
It was a breeding colony of 1000 rare octopuses, hitherto believed to be solitary creatures. The discovery is due to scientists who have been observing the sea for months on board the exploration ship Nautilus but the one spotted by Chad King and colleagues can be considered the largest deep-sea octopus nursery yet discovered. It was located within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
There, off the coast of California, scientists have spotted clusters of Muusoctopus octopus, a genus belonging to the Enteroctopodidae family. Most of the octopuses clung to the rock to protect the eggs.
"Nothing like this has ever been seen on the west coast of the United States, never in our sanctuary and never in the world with these numbers", he said Chad King.
The Davidson Seamount is located within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and it is an underwater mountain that protrudes 2200 meters from the ocean floor. The massive structure is about 40km long and 12km wide.
A remote place, difficult to observe except through instruments capable of reaching the sea depths. The Seamount and the surrounding region had been extensively mapped 12 years ago but a deep water region on the southeastern side of the mountain remained almost unexplored. And it was there that octopuses were spotted.
“We went down the eastern flank of this little hill when we started seeing dozens of octopuses, all over the place,” King said.
This is just the second reproductive colony of octopuses of the genus Muusoctopus discovered so far. The other was found in 2013 off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, called Dorado Outcrop.
Another large colony is the one observed in the eastern coasts of Australia where the octopus Octopus tetricus, believed to be solitary beings up to that time, have been sighted.
Wonders hidden in the abyss!
READ also:
- 'Octlantis', the underwater city of octopuses discovered in Australia (VIDEO)
- The birth of thousands of octopuses: a waterfall of life (video)
Francesca Mancuso
