• Health
  • Science
  • U.S.
  • Technology
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports

Building a Better World

News and information

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team

Scientists shocked by huge discovery beneath the ocean waves

September 20, 2017 By Dan Taylor

Scientists shocked by huge discovery beneath the ocean waves

Scientists have found an "octopus city" off the coast of Australia where octopi communicate in fascinating ways, and they're calling it Octlantis

Scientists have just made an incredible discovery of an underwater “octopus city” that they are dubbing Octlantis, and they’ve observed some fascinating behavior from the octopi that live there. The octopuses have been seen communicating with each other by posturing, changing their colors, or chasing each others, according to new research from the University of Illinois.

Octlantis was found in shallow water off the east coast of Australia, and a total of 15 individuals were seen hanging out down there. It’s the second time scientists have found such a settlement in the area, indicating that octopuses may not be the loners everyone thinks they are. The first site was found in Jervis Bay in 2009, and the new site is just a few hundred meters away.

The site is about 10 to 15 meters under the surface of the water, and it is about 18 meters long and four meters wide. It includes a few patches of rock and shell beds, with 23 octopus dens, some occupied and some not.

“At both sites there were features that we think may have made the congregation possible — namely several seafloor rock outcroppings dotting an otherwise flat and featureless area,” said Stephanie Chancellor, a Ph.D. student in biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an author on the paper. “In addition to the rock outcroppings, octopuses who had been inhabiting the area had built up piles of shells left over from creatures they ate, most notably clams and scallops. These shell piles, or middens, were further sculpted to create dens, making these octopuses true environmental engineers.”

Sharing

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Filed Under: Front Page, Science

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Us

Facebookrss

Search:

Recent Posts

  • NASA’s InSight spacecraft makes important course correction May 26, 2018
  • Scientists outraged at latest Trump decision May 15, 2018
  • Huge uproar erupts over major incident at Utah park May 13, 2018
  • Incredible moon discovery stuns scientists May 12, 2018
  • Authorities shocked by discovery about common painkiller May 6, 2018
  • Outrageous crocodile experiment stuns scientists May 5, 2018
  • Great Barrier Reef is too quiet, scientists say May 1, 2018
  • Massive Hiroshima bomb discovery shocks scientists May 1, 2018
  • Earth will be slammed by massive asteroid April 29, 2018
  • Teens are doing something incredibly alarming in schools April 29, 2018
  • Huge discovery in Tasmania stuns scientists April 28, 2018
  • Shocking discovery in New Jersey stuns authorities April 22, 2018
  • Huge volcanic explosion could wipe out the United States April 21, 2018
  • Huge controversy erupts over world’s hottest pepper April 15, 2018
  • SpaceX is about to do something astonishing April 15, 2018

Copyright © 2022 Jones Kilmartin Group, LLC · Metro Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress