A team of researchers has found and documented a new, active deep-sea octopus nursery 2 miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica. This is only the third known octopus nursery in the world.
Scientists on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falcor research ship believe the octopus is a new species of Muusoctopus, a genus of small to medium sized octopus without an ink sac, according to a news release from the organization.
The nursery is the first known aggregation of deep-sea octopus. The research team has named the nursey the Dorado Outcrop.
According to the news release, scientists saw hundreds of octopuses and witnessed their babies hatch, disproving the idea that the area is inhospitable for developing octopus young.
The outcrop was first discovered in 2013 and was the very first observation of female octopus gathering together to brood their eggs.
However no developing embryos were seen at the time, leading scientists to believe the conditions at the outcrop were too inhospitable to have babies.
The 19-day expedition was led by Dr. Beth Orcutt of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and Dr. Jorge Cortes of the University of Costa Rica.
During the expedition, the researchers used an underwater robot, ROV SuBastian, to observe the seamounts and baby octopuses.
“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,” said Dr. Jyotika Virmani, executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute in the news release.
The seamounts, including the Dorado Outcrop, are currently unprotected from human activity. The research team is working to determine if the seamounts should be designated marine protected areas.
“This expedition to the Pacific deep waters of Costa Rica has been a superb opportunity for us to get to know our own country,” said Cortes in the news release.
“The expedition had a significant number of local scientists and students which will accelerate our capacity to study deep regions. The information, samples, and images are important to Costa Rica to show its richness and will be used for scientific studies, and outreach to raise awareness of what we have and why we should protect it,” he added.
