Scientists studying the ocean off of Costa Rica say they’ve discovered the third-most well-known Octopus nursery.
The team of researchers from 18 countries discovered the site about two miles beneath sea levels. They believe that they might have discovered an entirely brand new type of Muusoctopus which is a family of medium to small size octopus that lacks an ink bag.
A blog post that was shared with NPR (@npr)
“The discoveries of a brand new active octopus nursery that extends over 2,800m beneath the sea’s surface at Costa Rican waters proves there remains a lot to discover concerning the world of our Ocean,” Dr. Jyotika Vimani, executive director for Schmidt Ocean Institute, Schmidt Ocean Institute, stated in an announcement.
According to a press release, scientists were able to observe Muusoctopus eggs hatch. They claimed that it proved the area, also known as the Dorado Outcrop was home to octopuses who were young.
In the year that Dorado Outcrop, an area about the size of football fields when it was first discovered in 2013 Researchers believed that octopuses wouldn’t be found there as they didn’t see any embryos growing in the area.
Scientists say the finding suggested that a number of deep-sea ocean Octopus species have eggs in low-temperature hydrothermal vents, like the one in which the nursery was found that is, where heated fluid from the crust of the Earth’s surface releases onto the seafloor, similar to hot springs.
The research vessel used for the expedition was rented by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a non-profit research organization that was created by the former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy.
The trip was supervised by Beth Orcutt of the Maine-based Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences along with Jorge Cortes of the University of Costa Rica.
According to the scientists they found that areas such as the Dorado Outcrop remain vulnerable to human activities, such as fishing. In addition, Costa Rican scientists on the expedition were attempting to determine whether the seamounts beneath them ought to be protected by law.
“The data, samples, and images are crucial in Costa Rica to show its wealth and its diversity. They will be used to conduct scientific studies as well as outreach to increase awareness of the resources is available and why we need to protect it,” Cortes said.
