Scientists find an “octopus garden”: tens of thousands of animals on the sea floor

“Sometimes you know right away you’ve found something special,” says one scientist at the moment she found tens of thousands of octopuses on the sea floor off the coast of California in 2018. It has not been known for a long time why animals migrate in such large numbers to the rocky part of the sea floor, but researchers now believe they have found an answer.

There are an estimated 20,000 octopuses on the rocks, most of which are brooding females, while these animals usually live alone. The area was renamed “Octopus Park” after the song Octopus garden from the beatles. Nests have a special appearance. They look like sparkling pearls, which is why the animals are called “pearl octopuses”.

The scientist, biologist Amanda Kahn, was actually researching sponges and coral, Tells them to the New York Times.

Then a group of ecologists, biologists and geologists investigated the behavior and living conditions of the group of animals. Scientists have come to the conclusion that they are attracted to the warm waters of the nearby submerged marine volcano Davidson.

The researchers say that the cold on the ocean floor usually poses a great challenge to animals. As a result, it takes five to ten years for animal eggs to hatch. for a long time when they are at risk of becoming prey to predators. In the warm ‘octopus garden’, hatching takes much less time, just under two years. As a result, more eggs can hatch.

Several “octopus gardens” seem to exist, although no one had heard of them until a few years ago. The animals have also been spotted in large numbers off the coast of Costa Rica.

According to the researchers, their findings could be important in protecting habitats from global warming. “We depend on the ocean in many ways,” marine ecologist James Barry told The New York Times. “Research into the sea and how to protect it is something worth doing, because it can also improve our lives.”

It has long been a secret why the animals gather in such numbers: