Octapalooza

Octopalooza

Pregnant?  Always a good idea to hang out with other moms to be.   And maybe find some nice warm water if you are in the deep dark cold depths!  

10,000 feet below the ocean surface off Big Sur, here are a few of 1000 octopus mothers in a maternity support group, all brooding over their babies, literally turning themselves inside out (tentacles exposed, fertilized eggs underneath) to feed and shelter their youngsters.

Check out https://nautiluslive.org/blog/2019/10/13/return-octopus-garden-monterey-bay-national-marine-sanctuary for more pics.  Note that these highly educated scientists call this surprise discovery “Octapalooza.”

Most octopus give birth alone, but scientists found 1000 of them all together, huddling “expectantly” over the warmer waters of deep sea thermal seeps. 

Like standing with your legs apart over a heating vent – ahhh!.  

Thanks to all you US taxpayers for supporting this government funded science, courtesy of NOAA and the privately funded Nautilus Ocean Trust. 

You think prenatal care is hard to find in our health care system?  This octopus maternity garden, the Davidson Sea Mount, an extinct volcano the size of Mt. Shasta deep in the ocean, is currently protected as part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  But our president wants to open it up to oil exploration.  Hard to have babies when they are drilling for oil all around you. 

I first wrote about this octopus garden exactly a year ago, when the Nautilus expedition first found this unusual site and sight.   It was early Wednesday morning after Election Day 2018.  Like a pregnant mom, I wasn’t sure what the future held. 

Then and now I brood like a mother about the future of my (American) family.  Will our national family be able to find safety and warmth and new life?  Will we make choices based on knowledge and hope, or on fear?  I am inspired today to repost a version of the blog, after the Nautilus went back this month to get a closer look at this octopalooza. 

Last year’s Election Day turned out pretty well – what’s next for our pregnant nation, groaning for new life?

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Our Blue Theology Mission Station in Pacific Grove welcomes youth and adult groups to learn more about ocean families and human families along Monterey Bay, what God calls us to do to protect and preserve Her wet creation.  This weekend we welcome 12 adults from the Urban Sanctuary Church in San Jose.  Be in touch for a visit.  Hold us in your prayers. Bluetheology.com.  You can also read these weekly Wednesday posts on Facebook.

 Photos NOAA and Andrew DeVogelaere.