Octlantis, Underwater City Built by Octopuses Discovered

“I was interested in understanding animal cognition and consciousness, and read a news media account of Peter’s interest in the site,” Schell explained. “I contacted Peter and he invited me to join the team.”

That original site finding resulted in three published papers, the most recent being in 2016, the same year the second site was discovered.

Though the animals inhabit the same area, they aren’t always friendly towards one another. Chancellor told the International Business Times that some of the octopuses were “seen evicting other animals from their dens. There were some apparent threat displays where an animal would stretch itself out lengthwise in an ‘upright’ posture and its mantle would darken. Often another animal observing this behavior would quickly swim away. But we still don’t really know much about octopus behavior. More research will be needed to determine what these actions might mean.”

“We have a lot of questions now, and are accumulating video recordings of behaviors that will allow us to address some of them,” Scheel said.

From here, the group will be analyzing the videos to look at mating systems, cognitions, and the evolutionary roots of complex social behavior, as well continue looking into how these settlements got started and if they’re particularly common.

Scheel said that discovered like this will continue to provide more opportunities for Alaska Pacific University students.

“The first site has already supported undergraduate senior projects and internships,” Scheel said. “Developing out of the Australia work, I now have opportunities for students interested in octopus cognition to develop senior projects starting immediately.”