Scientists Spotted An Octopus ‘Guarding’ Something, And Then They Realized Why

For 25 years, a team of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) researchers, under the leadership of marine biologist Bruce Robison, has conducted studies on deep-sea creatures at “Midwater 1.” What’s that, you ask? Midwater 1 is a site earmarked for further study, located in Monterey Canyon. While they have witnessed plenty of intriguing events during their time underwater, Bruce and his team would soon witness a phenomenon unlike any other...

Robinson’s team decided to perform one of their routine surveys of Midwater 1 come May 2007. Hoping to collect new data for scientific research, the team decided to plunge into the ocean depths using its state-of-the-art audio and visual technologies. Fortunately, the researchers didn’t have to wait long for their first sighting.

Considering that these depths were one mile deep underwater, any survey of the Monterey Canyon is expected to take time. Still, upon reaching 4,600 feet, Robertson and his crew made an exciting discovery. A female octopus was clinging to the edge of a rocky ledge just above the ocean floor. For a creature capable of swimming, this seemed like a peculiar act.

While the octopus didn’t seem to be doing anything of note at first, the researchers were keen to learn more about this creature. Why, you ask? Well, this would be because of the many facts that make the octopus such a fascinating species.

In addition to its mind-boggling anatomy, the octopus is fascinating because of its high intelligence. A master of camouflage and poison, this creature is capable of using tools to solve its everyday problems, for example, by transforming coconut shells into shelters. And this isn’t even the full extent of this species’ wonders.

While highly intelligent and resourceful, octopi have an incredibly short lifespan of about five years max. What’s more, most of them will only breed once in their lifetime. This means that time is incredibly precious to these sensitive and intuitive creatures. So what was the octopus doing just sitting in the depths of the Monterey Canyon?

When the researchers first happened upon the octopus, it was attached to a ledge. They were sure it hadn’t been there during a previous dive, so this was their first sighting of it. And the animal seemed to be covering something with its body. What on earth could it be hiding?

At first, the research team wasn’t that besotted with the octopus. While an interesting find, they had no idea that the octopus had a secret that was far more intriguing than they had imagined. Still, the experts had a job to do, which meant performing future dives at this site on a regular basis.

Upon returning after their first encounter with the octopus, the researchers were surprised to find this creature still planted in the same spot. What was so special about this particular place? The creature was still alive, that was for sure, but it certainly hadn’t moved since their last visit. Odd, to say the least...

As the divers inspected the octopus more closely, they discovered scars of varying sizes across its body. This magnificent sea creature had clearly been in a number of underwater scraps with others. And whatever it was guarding must have been of paramount importance.

Contrary to prior belief, the octopus was not guarding just one object. It was actually guarding 160 small items, with her eight arms curled tightly around them. The research team continued to visit this same spot for four and a half years — making 18 trips in total. As time progressed, the octopus’ mystery was slowly unraveled.

The researchers discovered that, in addition to not seeking food, the octopus had taken no notice of the tiny crabs and shrimps that had been going past her. Clearly, it had a job to do. As the months passed, the translucent eggs under her tentacles grew significantly. The octopus was a female, one that was apparently going to be a mother. But was she really taking care of these eggs for all four and a half years?

With her skin becoming pale and loose, the octopus would still not take any food. Yes, easy prey around her continued to get a free pass! While her priority towards her unborn offspring is understandable, something else made the octopus’ actions a particularly impressive feat.

You see, octopus eggs take two to ten months to hatch after being laid. In this case, however, the MBARI researchers discovered that this mother octopus had been waiting for her eggs to hatch... for over four years! That's the longest brooding period ever recorded for any animal! What’s more, the octopus in this scenario proved to have extreme survival skills.

For the entire period that she looked after her eggs, the octopus had refused to leave their side. Years going without food would be something astounding to most of us, of course. But what would be the fate of this tirelessly dedicated matriarch?

September 2011 was the last time that the research divers would see the octopus. One month later, they returned to the same spot, only to find that the octopus was gone. At the same time, they spotted the remains of empty egg capsules. Thus the MBARI was soon able to decipher the entirety of what had happened.

While the fate of the baby octopi is open to interpretation, the MBARI research team was fairly certain that they were alive and well. Because they live in such chilly waters, unborn octopi need time to develop before they hatch. So this female octopus’ offspring should have been more than ready to survive in the ocean on their own and hunt for small prey. But what of their mother?

Well, the octopus has a breeding strategy called semelparity, meaning that it will go through pregnancy once and will die soon after giving birth. While it may seem harsh, this strategy enables this species to maximize its breeding potential. Although it's a sad end for the mother octopus, her story provided some important biological insights.

During its research, MBARI highlighted that the deeper in the ocean an octopus lives, the longer it typically takes for its eggs to hatch. So this had resulted in deep-sea octopi, such as the one in the Monterey Canyon, having longer lifespans than their shallow-water counterparts.

No matter the circumstances, octopus mothers will go to any lengths for their young. The fact that an octopus will actually live longer should her eggs take longer to hatch, proves the dedication that she has for her offspring. They are certainly a mysterious species. Scientists have concluded that because of their special skills, octopuses may have origins that are quite literally out of this world.

How do you explain these animals that have huge brains, jelloid forms that can fit through tiny openings, and complex nervous systems? Did we mention they’re also camouflage masters? They're highly skilled at hiding in plain sight from predators. They practically have it all! And according to one group of researchers, they're too incredible to have just evolved in the sea.

These experts claimed to have evidence that octopuses are as awesome as they are because they're products of outer space. Yes, really! And in the paper “Cause of Cambrian Explosion — Terrestrial or Cosmic?” they backed up their bizarre theory with some surprising evidence.

“It is plausible," the researchers said, "to suggest [octopuses] seem to be borrowed from a far distant ‘future’ in terms of terrestrial evolution, or more realistically from the cosmos at large. Such an extraterrestrial origin as an explanation of emergence, of course, runs counter to the prevailing dominant paradigm.” In other words? Some things about the octopus just don't add up.

To these researchers, something about the octopus evolutionary timeline seemed off. They hadn't taken enough time to transform from a single-celled organism into an incredibly complex mollusk. The experts knew this because of fossilized evidence that tracks the animal’s path to its modern form.

So, could octopuses be evolutionary mysteries because they're not completely from this planet? And did they have a little "help" evolving from something extra-terrestrial? In the article, the researchers laid out their case.

So, could octopuses be evolutionary mysteries because they're not completely from this planet? The team focused on the Cambrian explosion to explain. More than 540 million years ago, there was an evolutionary period that kick-started the evolution of the majority of modern animal groups. Here is where researchers believe the answer to the octopus mystery lies.

Before the explosion, most of the life on Earth was simple. Colonies of cells and single-celled organisms swam around in the plentiful bodies of water on the planet. This was long before anything was complex enough to venture from the sea to the land. Then, the researchers proposed, an asteroid struck.

The researchers claimed that this asteroid carried a foreign substance or some kind of virus. But the idea that an outside force provided material for life to evolve on Earth isn’t new. It’s a part of the panspermia theory, a notion that evolution was a much faster process after a meteor crashed into the planet and deposited a virus.

It's not as strange as it sounds. You see, retroviruses do seem to have influenced evolutionary processes. And the researchers have said that some viruses had the capability to provide enough material to permanently change life on Earth.

Plenty of meteorites, comets, and other celestial objects have hit the Earth in the past. Physical evidence across the globe proves this. And the team have suggested that one of these objects could have been carrying the ingredients for life. But what does this all mean for octopuses?

For some reason, the writers thought that fertilized octopus eggs may have been cryogenically frozen and become attached to a space rock. Luckily, the conditions on Earth were perfect for these aliens — and they thrived here. Otherwise, octopuses evolved at an inexplicably unnatural rate/

The researchers also mentioned that there are 100 billion planets that share similarities with our own. And that's just in the Milky Way alone! It’s not as wild as it may seem to think that an organism from another world could survive a journey through space before crashing to Earth, especially one so sophisticated.

This hypothesis was featured in the scientific journal Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology, and it earned an enormous amount of outside attention. Mind you, scientists still aren’t sure about the Cambrian explosion origin theory — but in many scientific circles, it remains the soundest theory yet.

Some critics were quick to jump on the story. Ken Stedman, who is a virologist and professor of biology at Portland State University, said "There's no question early biology is fascinating — but I think this, if anything, is counterproductive." "Many of the claims in this paper are beyond speculative and not even really looking at the literature." Clearly, Stedman isn't on board.

Stedman also explained that if a retrovirus had impacted octopus evolution, it would have originated from another planet with similar squid-like animals. After all, a retrovirus couldn’t effectively change an animal without sharing similarities with its host. And he called out one specific claim in the alien-octopus theory.

Stedman explained, “[The retrovirus] certainly [was] not specific enough for something like a squid — unless you have massive amounts of squids on some planet incredibly close to us that is spitting off all of these meteors. But I think that kind of assumption is highly unlikely.”

And other scientists have agreed with Stedman. Karin Mölling, a virologist at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Germany, is similarly doubtful about the theory. The study is "very useful" but the findings "cannot be taken seriously," Mölling wrote, continuing, "There is no evidence for it at all."

So, although the team managed to get their paper published in a scientific journal, they have little concrete evidence to back up their theory. We can't fault the team's imagination, but it looks as though the octopus' real origins are still a bit of a mystery.