MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KSBW/CNN) -- A new study is shedding light on why thousands of octopuses are congregating on the coast of central California.
Experts say that this is the largest octopus nursery in the world.
Researchers call it the "octopus garden". Moss Landing is home to about 20,000 octopuses called pearl octopuses, which are found 2 miles offshore and 80 miles offshore.
"Then we saw it and everybody gasped," said Amanda Kahn of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. “We all got excited together and started talking about what could this mean? Why are you here?
Kahn is part of a research team that made the accidental discovery while exploring the extinct Davidson submarine volcano in 2018.
"I'm actually a sponge researcher, and I was invited to help identify the sponges that were there," Kahn said. "And instead we ended up in a garden of octopuses."
Five years later, a new, unique study co-authored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and other researchers has answered the question of why octopuses congregate in such large numbers.
He discovered the migration of octopuses, which are attracted to thermal springs. About 51 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature for eggs.
"We were able to measure their metabolism and saw that their metabolism increased in warm water," Kahn said. "And that means their eggs will develop faster than in colder waters."
It normally takes five to eight years for the eggs to hatch at such cold depths, but at Octopus Garden it takes less than two years.
MBARI said this would not have been possible without the latest advances in underwater technology.
"We are the pilots on board piloting this tethered vehicle at a depth of two miles," said MBARI's Jim Barry. "They're controlling it and they can control a remote-controlled robot the size of a Volkswagen van that's about a foot or two away from that octopus."
Scientists say there is much more research ahead.
This octopus nursery is only one of a handful in the world, many of which are found in hot springs, and there may be more along the California coast.
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