www.news.nom.co For four years and five months, an octopus clung to a rock deep beneath the sea to guard her eggs. The icy temperature of 3C at these depths governs the extraordinary brooding routine. A low metabolism allows the gelatinous mother to survive on little or no food, while she protects the eggs and flushes water over them, maintaining their oxygen supply as they gradually develop.
Published in the journal PLOS One, the team made the discovery in a canyon 1.4km beneath the Pacific, off California. Ecologists observed her record-breaking behavior from a robotic submarine.
The leader of the research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute said his team had stumbled upon the octopus in the days before she settled to glue her eggs to the rock face in May 2007.
Identified by characteristic scars in one of her eight armpits, the team saw the same octopus on the next dive, one month later.
Published in the journal PLOS One, the team made the discovery in a canyon 1.4km beneath the Pacific, off California. Ecologists observed her record-breaking behavior from a robotic submarine.
The leader of the research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute said his team had stumbled upon the octopus in the days before she settled to glue her eggs to the rock face in May 2007.
Identified by characteristic scars in one of her eight armpits, the team saw the same octopus on the next dive, one month later.
www.news.mon.co During the next four and a half years, the team paid the devoted cephalopod 18 more visits, via multimillion-dollar remote diving vehicles, sporting cameras, robotic arms, and laser lights.
Octopus and eggs were all still firmly in place in September 2011.
After four years and five months, only empty egg cases were left behind one month later.
After her 53 months of fast, during which she protected her 150 precious eggs from predators, the octopus would have died after completing the final quarter of her life. See more of the BBC news item here.
Octopus and eggs were all still firmly in place in September 2011.
After four years and five months, only empty egg cases were left behind one month later.
After her 53 months of fast, during which she protected her 150 precious eggs from predators, the octopus would have died after completing the final quarter of her life. See more of the BBC news item here.
But people care for their young after they're born, sometimes well into their adult life in our civilized society. The Kansas City Star reveals a tragic story of a devoted mother.
The doting mother worked overtime at a bank’s call center to help provide for her children, ages 9, 7, 4, 3 and 1. She loved reading to them, helping with their homework and taking them to the zoo and water parks.
For reasons unknown, her boyfriend shot the 29-year-old mother multiple times in front of numerous witnesses, including two of her children, in a church parking lot. Then he fatally shot himself.
She didn't choose to leave her children before they had grown, the way the octopus had done. Her five kids, the youngest still in diapers, meant the world to her.
The difference between man and cephalopod lies in technology. Humans have chosen to build weapons which allow them to kill from afar. A human mother cannot defend herself against a gun.
Domestic violence is a terrible thing. Anyone living in a similar situation is urged to contact a help line near them.
Two environments, two mothers, two deaths. One natural, one tragic. What are your thoughts on the way mankind has developed?
The doting mother worked overtime at a bank’s call center to help provide for her children, ages 9, 7, 4, 3 and 1. She loved reading to them, helping with their homework and taking them to the zoo and water parks.
For reasons unknown, her boyfriend shot the 29-year-old mother multiple times in front of numerous witnesses, including two of her children, in a church parking lot. Then he fatally shot himself.
She didn't choose to leave her children before they had grown, the way the octopus had done. Her five kids, the youngest still in diapers, meant the world to her.
The difference between man and cephalopod lies in technology. Humans have chosen to build weapons which allow them to kill from afar. A human mother cannot defend herself against a gun.
Domestic violence is a terrible thing. Anyone living in a similar situation is urged to contact a help line near them.
Two environments, two mothers, two deaths. One natural, one tragic. What are your thoughts on the way mankind has developed?
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