Ancient Volcano With Giant Eggs and Vibrant Marine Life Leaves Scientists Puzzled

A team of researchers led by Cherisse Du Preez found an active volcano off the Pacific coast of Canada. Cherisse Du Preez, the lead investigator and a deep-sea marine biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, told Live Science in an email, "It was a really special place on top of a really special place. The only previous finding of a Pacific white skate nursery was in the Galapágos and I thought that was on the order of a dozen or two eggs."

To their surprise, the volcano was covered with hot, mineral-rich water, making it the perfect environment for life to thrive. The large volcanic formation was found at a depth of 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) and was releasing warm water. Du Preez told Indy100 , "The warm water likely sped up the gestation period of the eggs, resulting in more successful juveniles. The shallow summit of the seamount was almost a coral garden and a safe nursery for juveniles to grow before they descended to the deep—it's a win-win."

Knewz.com noted that, besides this discovery, the researchers were even more astonished at locating Pacific white skate eggs. During their two-week expedition, they observed skates, a type of cartilaginous fish from the class Chondrichthyes, moving freely while laying their eggs. A shocked Du Preez commented, "I'd estimate the summit of the seamount, which was covered in eggs, had—I didn’t know—100,000? A million?"

The skate creatures were closely related to sharks and rays and laid rectangular eggs. These eggs known as the 'mermaid purses' looked like small handbags drifting underwater. Adult female skates could grow up to two meters (6.5 feet) long. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, these species resided at depths between 800 and 2,900 meters (2,600 and 9,500 feet) off the west coast of North and Central America.

The discovery excited the researchers and they believed that the volcano's constant warm water created a perfect atmosphere for a skate nursery. It took around four years for young skates to fully grow. Hence, the nursery which was about 1.5 kilometers deep, provided a safe environment for the young skates to learn before they plunged into the deep, dark ocean.

Furthermore, in 2018, researchers made a similar discovery with eggs found near hydrothermal vents close to the Galápagos Islands. The divers concluded that the mother skates leveraged the warmth from the volcano to incubate their eggs. In the three-minute YouTube video, Du Preez expressed to UNILAD , "Our expedition was unprecedented. The discoveries we made and our encounters with deep-sea animals have left us speechless ."

According to Du Preez, the team was constantly monitoring the egg-covered volcano, since it was not under protection. The eggs and the skates might have been at high risk due to the fishing and boating activities . The discovery further highlighted the importance of these vent habitats for young marine life as well as for the overall health of the ocean.