It’s only the fourth known deep-sea octopus nursery in the world—and may harbor a species never before identified.
From a boat off western Costa Rica, members of the Octopus Odyssey expedition huddled in front of TV screens, watching in real time as their remotely operated vehicle prowled the seafloor.
Then one of them gasped. "There's a baby, there's a baby!" she cried.
The tiny newborn, its body a light translucent pink, reached out with all eight tentacles and propelled itself upward.
"That was just an incredible moment," said Beth Orcutt, who led the research project to the Pacific Ocean’s Dorado Outcrop site in June with Jorge Cortes of the University of Costa Rica. "The mission control room got very crowded and very noisy."
Rare octopus nursery found, teeming with surprises
From a boat off western Costa Rica, members of the Octopus Odyssey expedition huddled in front of TV screens, watching in real time as their remotely operated vehicle prowled the seafloor.
Then one of them gasped. "There's a baby, there's a baby!" she cried.
The tiny newborn, its body a light translucent pink, reached out with all eight tentacles and propelled itself upward.
"That was just an incredible moment," said Beth Orcutt, who led the research project to the Pacific Ocean’s Dorado Outcrop site in June with Jorge Cortes of the University of Costa Rica. "The mission control room got very crowded and very noisy."
Rare octopus nursery found, teeming with surprises