The “Octopus Garden” – MBARI

Pearl octopus (Muusoctopus robustus) nesting in rocky crevices in the "Octopus Garden" on the Davidson Seamount, part of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary off the central coast of California. (courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust / NOAA, public domain).

Deep below the ocean’s surface just off the Central California coast, thousands of octopus gather near an extinct underwater volcano. The Octopus Garden is the largest known aggregation of octopus anywhere in the world…