octopus eggs

These are octopus eggs! When a female octopus is ready to mate she releases a chemical to let males know, causing them to fight over her. The winner gives her packages of sperm called 'spermatophores' and she then seals herself into a den where she lays and fertilises her eggs. A female octopus can lay tens of thousands of eggs, and they all hang from the roof of the den. After up to around six and a half months (depending on the species) of caring for them, the babies hatch and swim to the surface. The female octopus then crawls out of the den and dies