Scientists discovered an underwater city of 20,000 octopus nests deep inside California coast; largest known nursery on the planet

4497 points by ConsciousRealism42 17 hours ago on reddit | 86 comments

distancetomars | 17 hours ago

Thats really cool, we just need to leave it alone…

lollygagging_reddit | 17 hours ago

Are... Are you... You're saying we need to completely fuck it up right?

Cuz we're gonna, cuz we suck

Zooooooombie | 17 hours ago

But how can we……… exploit this for the shareholders?

Mundane_Pirate1 | 16 hours ago

This quarter!

amalgaman | 16 hours ago

Octopi have oil in their bodies. Time for operation Freedompus.

NYFan813 | 16 hours ago

This is 2026, their brains are a masssssive data center. OctopAI taking investments now.

Uracawk | 14 hours ago

That’s such a good name. It’s unfortunate really, how you didn’t come up with it and the CEO did. Btw, here’s this lawsuit you didn’t know about 🤭/s

082426grateful | 13 hours ago

Okta Incorporated has filed a cease and desist suit.

NSASpyVan | 11 hours ago

Octotanium

Tpbrown_ | 11 hours ago

`New this year - Octofest! Only at Red Lobster!`

HerbOverstanding | 9 hours ago

How do they fare as hats?

stump2003 | 4 hours ago

We have discovered oil, time to spread some freedom

KitKatAngel | 13 hours ago

*immediately fuck it up

BakerOne | 2 hours ago

I bet there is some good oil to be found there

PhD_Pwnology | 17 hours ago

Good luck, some fisherman or commercial company is reading this and looking to find it ASAP.

PotentExtract | 6 hours ago

The alien base will stop them first

quad_damage_orbb | 16 hours ago

Sorry, 1000 spear fishermen, a fleet of Chinese bottom trawlers and a crude oil super tanker with a drunk captain are already on their way at full speed

Hugs154 | 13 hours ago

It’s 2 miles under the surface, I don’t think tourists will be a problem lmao

NSASpyVan | 11 hours ago

That's what you thinafghjdhghdsg

glub glub

Ghooble | 17 hours ago

I give it five years now that we know it exists

CariniFluff | 16 hours ago

We've known it exists since 2018. It's a couple thousand meters deep, and these are moms incubating eggs right before they die. There would be way easier and healthier octopus to catch than these.

Academic-Wishbone956 | 15 hours ago

And that's stopped humanity when?

CariniFluff | 15 hours ago

I'm not making any argument about humanity and how destructive we are. I was simply pointing out that we've already known about this place for eight years, so the dire five year prediction is already well passed.

Hopefully the difficult location and presumably low quality of the octopus will make commercial fisherman look elsewhere. No point in catching dying animals that nobody will eat.

Academic-Wishbone956 | 15 hours ago

Fair.

NSASpyVan | 11 hours ago

that's 5 generations for some octopus species

cyanescens_burn | 14 hours ago

So you mean we should start setting up oil rigs offshore there? Lucky for you that’s the plan of the federal administration for the California coast.

kristospherein | 14 hours ago

Yeah seriously. Lets go study it and then let's accidentally release the location and then some moron kills them all. Tale as old as time.

iJuddles | 14 hours ago

I’m 100% in favor of creating a crowd funded Octopus Defense Fleet, because there’s always some greedy person or corporation who only sees dollar signed when they see life forms. I’m glad MBARI is doing their thing and keeping tabs on O City.

aspect-of-the-badger | 10 hours ago

Or we can charge a ton of money to tourists to see it and post on their socials. Sure it might kill off a ton of octo's but think of all the profits.

Jerminkus_Silverbeef | 16 hours ago

Take me down to the octopus city where the girls are octopuses and the octopuses are pretty

NSASpyVan | 11 hours ago

Oh won't you take me hommmme, yeah yeaaaaa

ipinfloi | 17 hours ago

No one has to know

Wet_Side_Down | 17 hours ago

My money is on the octopus to become the dominant species on Earth after humanity extinguishes itself

0impulsecontrol | 17 hours ago

back in 04 or so there was a pretty cool special from discovery I think that imagined an earth 200 million years or so from now and in it octopuses swung from trees and shit, it was pretty cool... can't remember the name.

loboMuerto | 17 hours ago

The Future is Wild. Excellent TV series, I miss that kind of shows.

There_is_always_hope | 16 hours ago

Yup, I had the box set of DVDs and that show was fucking cool. It's fun to wonder how the world would look and they a great job showing it.

Chill--Cosby | 13 hours ago

Woah crazy to hear this mentioned. I watched a ton of discovery channel as a child. I have distinct memories of this exact scene and have thought about it my whole life

I could be mistaken, but I think the episodes in the series were based on increments of time in earth's future. Like 20 years, 200 years, up to several million. I remember binge watching the whole thing when I was like 9. Only watched it once and I've remembered things about it all these years

One of the earlier episodes predicted by 2050 we would have advanced AI and self-driving electric cars. Crazy

BooBeeAttack | 16 hours ago

I was thinking of the same special.

"We need to let these octopi evolve, hopefully rapidly, us humans had a good run"

Delicious_Basil_919 | 16 hours ago

That is a core memory for me staying home sick from school I watched that and had my mind blown

JarvisProudfeather | 16 hours ago

Only issue is they live solo lives (and die super quick). I would think the next species to “take over” would need to be a social one. My bet is on corvids.

AtreyuTrinity | 15 hours ago

Haha I said the same before seeing your comment. Corvids are so fucking cool. People hate mag pies here but I think they are so pretty, even if they can be punks.

me_myself_ai | 13 hours ago

Yeah their dickishness is truly their downfall (I say as an octo lover, it's their right to be dickish if they want to).

Corvids... intuitively it seems like you'd have to clear huge hurdles to evolve A) dextrous limbs and B) big brains while staying light enough to fly nimbly, but ofc we never know. They're certainly gregarious already, which helps!

Assuming Bonobos and Chimps are out, my money's on another mammal. Raccoons, perhaps? I sure hope it's not gonna be dolphins lol -- they're too mean, even for nature!

THE_CHOPPA | 15 hours ago

Wouldn’t the city of 20,000 octopus put this theory in question?

jkurratt | 52 minutes ago

No.

btoxic | 17 hours ago

The book series Children of Time touchs on a sentient octopus society. It's a great series, but it's pretty dense and a long read.

FormallyKnownAsKabr | 14 hours ago

Apologies if this comes of a pedantic but it would be very unlikely.

Octopi only live for a few years, 2-4 iirc, meaning they would have to pass a meaningful amount knowledge to their offspring and pickup where their predecessor left off etc. Afaik they can communicate but do not necessarily teach or pass knowledge in a meaningful way.

Albeit incredibly intelligent and clever, like us, they have many more hurtles to overcome for dominate status. They are definitely survivors and will hopefully stay a part of the living record as long as possible.

Fraktal55 | 16 hours ago

This made me wonder how they would do with the oceans rising temps.

Apparently they may get initial short-term population booms in some regions because of warmer waters but in the long-term they have severe risks to their vision, reproduction, and embryo survival.

meteorflan | 12 hours ago

They are brilliant and have detailed fine motor skills - but very short life-spans.

clever_name_i_made | 15 hours ago

Children Of Ruin intensifies

AtreyuTrinity | 15 hours ago

Agreed. Maybe and or corvids too. They are so clever. Flight seems so helpful for hunting and migrating.

Sh0wmey0urbutth0le | 16 hours ago

Nintendo already predicted it with Splatoon

Sad-Bonus-9327 | 12 hours ago

But it will take around 2 billion years

Wahayna | 7 hours ago

Nah it will be crabs

SouthernVegetable168 | 16 hours ago

The Mountain and the Sea was prophetic 🤯

HBHau | 10 hours ago

I really need to read this (it’s been on my TBR pile for way too long!)

me_myself_ai | 13 hours ago

Isn't this, like, a huge deal?! I thought octopus were uniformly antisocial (/non-gregarious)? I know this isn't Octopus vulgaris but it still seems insane.

Like, communication seems essential to this kind of setup. So exciting. OTOH, the "dying after mating once" thing is a pretty big barrier to social development...

Also love that it's called "The Octopus' Garden". Just... perfect

LostInTheSciFan | 8 hours ago

Octopus Gardens are real things, they're what inspired the song

Urabrask_the_AFK | 16 hours ago

…and they have a plan

iJuddles | 14 hours ago

I approve this plan.

082426grateful | 13 hours ago

If the plan involves a viable third political party choice for America, I’m in.

Sandokan13 | 17 hours ago

Trump will allow drilling close to it soon and destroy this beauty.

BRAINSZS | 16 hours ago

hell yeah, octosupremacy!! octopusremacy?

Rodgertheshrubber | 10 hours ago

For now.

Specialist-Neck-7810 | 16 hours ago

I no longer eat octopus or squid. This is an excellent example of why.

0peRightBehindYa | 12 hours ago

....and we're gonna fuck with it. Because we're stupid.

JijiSpitz | 12 hours ago

So which direction will California go with this discovery? Designate this area as protected waters or profit off diving tour tickets and catamaran rentals to pay for the water front property the octopuses have been living in?

cedg32 | 17 hours ago

Waiting… waiting… waiting…

charface1 | 16 hours ago

What's the rent?

care4not | 16 hours ago

Shame Was better untouched

Gammagammahey | 7 hours ago

Oh my God, this is incredible. With all of the evidence, I'm pretty sure they're sentient. Leave them alone. Just leave them alone. I think they're protected in California anyway like lobsters are or maybe that's the State of Washington.

I am totally fascinated by octopuses. They have brains in each tentacle.

sandwichcandy | 13 hours ago

Don’t tell east Asia where this is.

LineImpossible3958 | 8 hours ago

Leave them alone

alternatingflan | 15 hours ago

Oh crap - now krasnov will want to exterminate them next.

ComicsEtAl | 11 hours ago

It was fun while it lasted, I’m sure.

TradeBeautiful42 | 7 hours ago

My son was thrilled when I showed him the article. He’s 4, so he couldn’t read it himself but he loved the video. This might’ve made his whole night.

Previous-Space-7056 | 6 hours ago

Hopefully we get a david attenborough show out of this

MrBuckhunter | 6 hours ago

So that party reel where the octopus swims to up to thousands of others with shades on is real? Dayum

GhstOfIncntOptimism | 6 hours ago

Octopolis, Octlantis, Octford, Octlympus, ...

SylentSymphonies | 2 hours ago

Sure hope none of them open an ancient satellite that fell to the sea floor thousands of years ago, which may or may not contain the unknown horrors of the cosmos.

taylorbagel14 | an hour ago

Aww they’re my neighbors 🥺

areyouausername | 16 hours ago

This and then the El Niño? Are we in >!The Last House!

pbebbs3 | 17 hours ago

I suddenly have a craving for takoyaki