Three Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary staff are co-authors in a new study published on August 23 in Science Advances. This work confirms that deep-sea octopus migrate to the Octopus Garden to mate and nest. The Octopus Garden, located near Davidson Seamount about 80 miles from Monterey, CA, is one of a handful of known deep-sea octopus nurseries. At this nursery, warmth from deep-sea thermal springs accelerates the development of octopus eggs. Scientists believe the shorter brooding period increases a hatchling octopus’ odds for survival. The Octopus Garden was discovered in 2018 during a MBNMS-led expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus, and is the largest known aggregation of octopus on the planet. Researchers have counted more than 6,000 octopus in a portion of the site and expect there may be 20,000 or more at this nursery. Over the course of 14 dives with MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts, the research team learned why such large numbers of pearl octopus are attracted to this location. The presence of adult male and female octopus, developing eggs, and octopus hatchlings indicated that the site is used exclusively for reproduction. These octopus gather at this site solely to mate and nest. Research partners include MBARI, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of New Hampshire, and the Field Museum.
Photo credit: NOAA/OET