By Alexandra Mehl, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter HA-SHILTH-SA
Offshore of Vancouver Island, in Nuu-chah-nulth waters north of Tofino, some 65 kilometers west of Hesquiat Harbour, lives a nursery of deep-sea octopuses brooding their eggs.
It is one of just four known octopus nurseries in the world, said DFO researcher Cherisse Du Preez.
In late May, Du Preez and her colleague Heidi Gartner set out to sea on a deep-sea expedition, in partnership with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Council of Haida Nation, Quatsino and Pacheedaht First Nation, Ocean Networks Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The expedition was largely to explore the pending Marine Protected Area Tang.散wan-岣膷x史iqak-Tsig瘫is, alongside additional places of protection interest, said Du Preez.
Months prior, the German scientific research organization GEOMAR and Natural Resources Canada discovered bubbles traveling 1.5 kilometers through the water column, indicating a methane seep from the seafloor, shared Du Preez. This was the reason they went to the site.
The group explored roughly 12 locations where gases escape from fissures in the ocean floor. They are among at least 1,500 offshore cold seeps west of Vancouver Island, extending from southern Vancouver Island to Haida Gwaii, said Du Preez.
On their last dive of the expedition, along Hesquiat slope, they came across deep sea octopus brooding on their eggs within cave-like features in carbonate rock created by the cold seeps.
91裸聊视频淭he methane bubbles91裸聊视频hat are bubbling out of the seafloor creates large chunks of methane ice,91裸聊视频� said Du Preez. 91裸聊视频淭hey actually create entire uplifts, and they tear the seafloor upwards.91裸聊视频�
She added that this process also 91裸聊视频渃reates carbonate rocks that are then habitat on the seafloor that otherwise weren91裸聊视频檛 there.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 almost volcano-like,91裸聊视频� said Du Preez. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 bringing stuff up from deep within the earth, it91裸聊视频檚 creating rocks, and it91裸聊视频檚 all overflowing and then tumbling down and it builds up on itself.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚n this particular location we saw one of these blisters in the earth91裸聊视频檚 surface,91裸聊视频� she continued. 91裸聊视频淲e saw this violent bubbling coming out, and all the rocks that were being created and tumbling down the slope collected in this boulder field that was otherwise surrounded by desert-like, muddy abyss.91裸聊视频�
According to a 2014 study, this particular deep-sea octopus, Graneledone boreopacifica, is known to have the longest-known egg brooding period of any animal due to the cold temperatures of the deep sea waters. The embryonic development period slows down, compared to shallow water octopus which brood their eggs from one to three months.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a beautiful deep-sea octopus, very charismatic, purple, big black eyes,91裸聊视频� said Du Preez. 91裸聊视频淭hey sit on their eggs, don91裸聊视频檛 move, don91裸聊视频檛 eat and just defend the eggs for a minimum of four and a half years.91裸聊视频�
Like salmon, brooding these eggs will be the last thing that these octopuses do, shared Du Preez.
Cold seeps are recognized by the Canadian government to be among ecologically and biologically significant areas.
91裸聊视频淭hey are so standalone outstanding, with the biodiversity you find around them, that they warrant protection,91裸聊视频� said Du Preez.
The nursery ground that Du Preez and her team discovered is currently located in an area that is fishable.
91裸聊视频淭he most concerning thing about finding a nursery somewhere where fishing can happen, is that it can be that easy to take out a single generation of an octopus,91裸聊视频� she said reflecting on bottom contact fishing.
The crew counted 25 easily-spotted octopuses, though Du Preez said she has 91裸聊视频渘o doubt that there were hundreds more than what we saw.91裸聊视频�
Gartner, also a DFO researcher, said that as they moved along the seafloor in more sandy locations they also saw young octopus close to the nursery.
91裸聊视频淚t was really good evidence for us that this nursery habitat is really effective,91裸聊视频� said Gartner.
Deep-sea octopuses represent the top of the food chain, making them significant to the distribution of energy in the deep sea, said Du Preez.
91裸聊视频淲hen the top predators aren91裸聊视频檛 healthy, they actually have an effect back on the ecosystem,91裸聊视频� she said.
Du Preez explained that octopus living along Hesquiat slope will have an impact on global ocean ecosystems.
91裸聊视频淚f you didn91裸聊视频檛 have that nursery ground91裸聊视频ou almost couldn91裸聊视频檛 imagine the ripple effect, if that wasn91裸聊视频檛 a safe place for the octopus,91裸聊视频� said Du Preez. 91裸聊视频淵ou might not have that type of octopus anywhere along the North American continental slope 91裸聊视频� all five coasts 91裸聊视频� because they all come from that one nursery ground.91裸聊视频�
Dianne Ignace and her family lives in the small village of Heskwii in Hesquiat Harbour. For the family, octopuses close to the shore are a common sighting.
91裸聊视频淲e do have some excitement with octopus every now and then,91裸聊视频� said Ignace.
Ignace has been told stories from her husband and his father, George Ignace, about at the rocky drop off at the edge to the channel where octopuses could reside, said Ignace.
91裸聊视频淟ong ago the old-timers used to go down there and dig them out,91裸聊视频� said Ignace. 91裸聊视频淭hey get right in the water, and nobody does it anymore.91裸聊视频�
They would eat them, she said.
Oftentimes when Ignace or her family have come across an octopus, it happens in the winter. When they do find them on shore it91裸聊视频檚 after they have been dropped by an eagle.
91裸聊视频淓agles fly over here with it, and they just lose their grip or somehow the thing wiggles free,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t drops on the flat, and a lot of times when that happens, the eagles dive down and they start eating it on the beach.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淓agles really like to eat octopus because we91裸聊视频檝e seen a lot of them eating them,91裸聊视频� she added.
Ignace said that once they saw a sea otter laying on its back eating an octopus.
91裸聊视频淚t fell off a few times too and then the sea otter would dive under and find it again, pick it up again,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t was really interesting to watch.91裸聊视频�
For Gartner, a collective love and connection to octopus can help connect people to the importance of deep-sea conservation.
91裸聊视频淪eeing an animal that91裸聊视频檚 intelligent and with big eyes and living so deep, so remote, so far away from us, and yet, there91裸聊视频檚 so many elements that you can connect to it91裸聊视频檚 just kind of special,91裸聊视频� said Gartner. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a great way to connect the deep sea to us.91裸聊视频�
READ ALSO:
READ ALSO:
