The Brief

Off the coast of California is an unusual "octopus garden" — the largest congregation of deep-sea octopuses ever discovered on Earth, where over 6,000 octopuses huddle around an extinct underwater volcano in the black, cold ocean depths, almost two miles below the surface.

Most are brooding females that spend their days doing nothing but guarding nests full of eggs, a tedious task which can take nearly two years. It would take even longer if not for the warm water seeping from the seafloor that speeds up the growth of their babies, according to new research that suggests this natural incubator is why octopuses gather there in such huge numbers.

The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances in August, highlights how low-key hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor can create isolated patches of cozy warmth, hidden in the darkness, that could play an outsized role in supporting deep-sea life. Thousands of such spots could be dotted up and down coastlines, researchers say.

"It's definitely a special site for these animals. It's a breeding site for this octopus. It has effects for the entire community nearby that then has spillover effects beyond that," says Jim Barry of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, the lead researcher for this work. "So it's regionally important and we still know very little about it. How many more of these are there?"

A surprise in shimmering water

Scientists found this site about five years ago, when a submersible vehicle got sent to explore some underwater hills around Davidson Seamount, a submerged mountain off the coast of central California that once was a volcano.

While the seamount was well-studied, the surrounding areas were not, and researchers were shocked when the vehicle's headlamps suddenly revealed large groups of purple octopuses, Muusoctopus robustus, that were crouched over nests of eggs.

Octopuses generally are antisocial loners that would rather fight another octopus than live in close quarters. And yet biologists had stumbled onto an enormous octopus garden, a trippy scene straight out of a Beatles song.

"They thought, 'Well, let's get a really close look.' And as they zoomed into these octopus, then they saw this shimmering water and they realized this is a thermal spring, this is warm water coming out. And that was somewhat of a surprise because this is an inactive volcano," explains Barry.

The first time scientists ever observed a bunch of deep-sea octopuses gathering together was about a decade ago, in another place where warm water seeped out of the seafloor, off Costa Rica. But researchers studying that rocky outcrop didn't see any viable eggs and thought that perhaps the higher temperatures there had harmed their development.

Just this summer, however, another expedition revisited that outcrop and saw that it was actually an active, successful nursery.

"It really kind of blew my mind because it is so drastically different and they're taking observations in the exact same places that we had been looking at," says Anne Hartwell, with the Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of New Hampshire, who visited the Costa Rica site in 2014.

Hartwell is part of the team that recently spent months doing robotic work to study the octopus garden near California, to figure out what role warm water might play in drawing octopuses together.

"The robots we use are so advanced and they have such great technology and cameras and dexterity with their mechanical arms," says Hartwell. "They enable us to not quite be down there in person, but get a lot done as if we were."

The researchers mapped an area the size of a few football fields in detail, installed a time-lapse camera that watched octopuses continuously, and visited individual octopus nests again and again while monitoring water temperatures with probes.

A time-lapse camera developed by engineers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute monitored the nesting octopuses in the deep for more than six months.

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Courtesy MBARI

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"We found 6,000 animals in just a small area, and that was just a portion of where the octopuses are distributed. So we're estimating, I don't know, up to 20,000 animals may be there," explains Barry. He adds that the female octopuses are so focused on tending their nests that they mostly ignored the investigators.

"We can drive up to within eight inches of them and hold a camera right there. They don't do a thing," he says.

The allure of rare warmth in the deep

The ocean water at this depth is normally about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, but the spa-like waters seeping out of cracks and crevices got up to about 51 degrees Fahrenheit—and that's where the octopuses wanted to brood.

"The females only nest in warm sites. As far as we can tell, we could find none in cold waters," says Barry. "There are plenty of nesting sites available, but they don't nest on just any bare rock. They only choose those sites where there's a nice warm pool. And in fact, if one female leaves, we found that another one will jump in there within a couple of weeks."

What's more, he says, the octopus eggs matured much more quickly than one would expect, based on what's known about other octopuses that live in the cold ocean depths.

Brood times for nesting females there seemed to be about 1.8 years, while previous observations of a deep-sea octopus in cold water showed that it took 4.5 years for its eggs to hatch, a length of time longer than any other animal.

Biologists know from prior research that warming generally speeds the pace of octopus embryo development. Barry says that having a shorter brooding period should give the offspring a greater chance of survival, since the female octopuses and their developing embryos would spend less time in an immobile, vulnerable state.

A female octopus in the deep Pacific ocean broods her eggs near a warm hydrothermal spring. The warmth there seems to speed the development of octopus embryos.

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Courtesy MBARI

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"Seeing that they are getting a brooding time of 1.8 years is awesome. It shows that there's an advantage to these octopus breeding their eggs in the warmer water," says Beth Orcutt of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine, who has studied the octopus populations off Costa Rica. "That's the first time we've been able to look at that with this kind of data."

Janet Voight, an expert on deep-sea octopuses at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, says it's astonishing to her that the California site has "a concentration of predators that exceeds any reasonable expectation. It's like, whoa."

But these female octopuses have given up their predatory life to reproduce and, instead, they themselves are being eaten when they die. The octopus garden seems to support a teeming variety of other life such as crustaceans, anemones and snails. "These are all parts of an ecosystem that's sustained by the octopus being there and dying in there," Voight says.

Despite the richness of this ecosystem, it could easily have been missed by explorers, because the ocean bottom is so vast and dark, illuminated only for brief moments by the lights of slow-moving exploration vehicles.

"When you think of the deep sea, it's kind of muddy and flat and nothing too much conspicuous around," says Voight. "Then you stumble upon something like this and it's like a bonanza."

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked California from enforcing a new law that would have banned federal immigration agents from wearing masks during immigration sweeps.

U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder ruled that the state could not enforce the facial-covering provision of SB 627, the No Secret Police Act, while a legal challenge brought by the federal government moved forward. That lawsuit argued that SB 627 conflicted with federal authority and would improperly limit how federal agents could do their jobs.

The backstory

The law banning facial coverings took effect Jan. 1 and had already sparked confusion and backlash in Los Angeles after Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said officers would not enforce the ban. McDonnell called the law bad policy and said enforcing it could put officers and the public at risk.

McDonnell’s statements drew sharp criticism from local elected officials, the authors of the laws, and immigration law attorneys and advocates.

The federal government sued California last year, arguing that SB 627 and a second law, SB 805, known as the No Vigilantes Act, unlawfully interfered with federal immigration enforcement. SB 627 sought, in part, to make it illegal for most officers, including federal agents, to conduct law enforcement operations while wearing masks. SB 805, in part, required agents to identify themselves.

About the ruling

Snyder ruled that the mask ban inconsistently applied to some law enforcement officers and not others, which is one of the reasons why the judge temporarily blocked it.

Federal attorneys had argued that agents should be allowed to wear masks for their safety against harassment and assault, such as doxxing. Snyder disagreed, writing that while federal agents and other public figures face security risks, masks were not essential for performing their duties.

“Security concerns exist for federal law enforcement officers with and without masks,” Snyder wrote. “If anything, the Court finds that the presence of masked and unidentifiable individuals, including law enforcement, is more likely to heighten the sense of insecurity for all.”

Reaction to the ruling

One of the law’s authors, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, announced Monday afternoon that he would be introducing new legislation aimed at revising the original law to apply to state officers it previously exempted. He characterized the ruling as a win and vowed to continue efforts to unmask federal agents.

“Now that the Court has made clear that state officers must be included, I am immediately introducing new legislation to include state officers,” Wiener said in a prepared statement, adding: “We will unmask these thugs and hold them accountable. Full stop.”

What's next

Monday’s ruling still required enforcement of SB 627 and SB 805’s remaining provisions, including that officers identify themselves. It also protected the pathway for civilians to directly sue agents for misconduct.

This temporary order will remain in effect until the federal case is resolved. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This story will update if it does.

A new report from L.A. County offers a closer look at the economic damage to the region caused by federal immigration enforcement — and at the neighborhoods most affected.

The analysis, compiled by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity and Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, identified the neighborhoods hardest hit by ICE, and found that they were more economically precarious.

Researchers determined that the most targeted ZIP code in the county is 91402, which spans Mission Hills, Panorama City and North Hills in the San Fernando Valley.

The report, which was commissioned by the county Board of Supervisors, also found that many small businesses county-wide have lost revenue and customers since ICE ramped up its presence in Los Angeles last year.

The Department of Homeland Security has detained more than 10,000 people in the L.A.-area since June, according to numbers released in December. Its aggressive deportation campaign has altered daily life in Los Angeles, where nearly one in five people is undocumented or lives with someone who is undocumented.

The report lays out the ripple effect of that campaign on communities, local businesses, and workers, and its uneven influence on the region as a whole.

Vulnerable neighborhoods

The survey created an index of most vulnerable areas.

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Courtesy L.A. County Economic Development Corporation

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The report lays out the economic consequences for communities repeatedly hit by ICE sweeps.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit research group, used census data and reports on detentions from the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network to assess how vulnerable each L.A. County ZIP code was to immigration enforcement.

Researchers looked at four other factors for each ZIP code: shares of foreign-born population from Latin America, renter households, Spanish-speaking households and non-citizen workforce.

The 10 most vulnerable ZIP codes, they determined, are primarily in working class, immigrant neighborhoods including Bell, Pico Rivera and Southeast L.A.

Researchers used employment data for the county and found that those ZIP codes were over-represented in industries, including manufacturing and retail, which have a significant number of undocumented workers. Businesses in these neighborhoods also tended to have fewer employees on average compared to the rest of the county, and employees were paid less.

"Taken together, these exhibits show that areas facing heightened immigration enforcement differ from the rest of Los Angeles County and appear more economically vulnerable," the report states.

Declined revenue, less foot traffic

Researchers also distributed a survey to small businesses county-wide to assess how federal immigration enforcement has affected the communities they operate in and their bottom lines since summer.

More than 200 small businesses responded. Most reported having fewer than 10 employees, and the majority were in industries like restaurants, retail, professional or personal services and manufacturing.

The majority of respondents — 82% — reported being negatively affected by federal immigration enforcement. Around half reported lost regular customers, less foot traffic or reduced daily sales. Around a quarter reported temporary closures due to concerns from community members.

Many surveyed business owners reported a climate of fear that has led people to stay home and avoid certain places altogether.

"Businesses reported that customers expressed fear about their location, that customers asked about safety in the neighborhood, and that customers avoided shopping or dining in their neighborhood," the report states.

Undocumented workers generate 17% of county's economic activity

No corner of Los Angeles is exempt to the ongoing immigration sweeps that have become a new reality for the region. Nearly 950,000 undocumented immigrants live in L.A. County, according to recent estimates. That's more than 9% of people in the county who lack legal status.

Undocumented workers also play a huge role in many of L.A.'s key industries. Recent research from the USC Equity Research Institute estimates that 37% of cleaning and maintenance workers and 25% of food preparation and service workers in L.A. County are undocumented.

The industry with the highest percentage of undocumented workers is construction, at 40%.

The county's undocumented population together generates just under $240 billion in economic output, according to the county's report. That's around 17% of the county's total economic activity.

The Los Angeles Unified School District rescheduled a Tuesday meeting where the board was expected to vote on layoffs as part of a larger plan to cut spending.

“The district has adjusted the date of the upcoming board meeting to ensure adequate time for preparation, public engagement, and responsible deliberation on items of significant impact and interest to our workforce and community,” an LAUSD spokesperson wrote in a statement to LAist.

They wrote the proposed reduction in force would be presented at a “future meeting.” Tuesday’s meeting is currently re-scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 17.

In a Friday letter, the unions representing LAUSD teachers, support staff and principals asked the board to delay the RIF vote until there is more information available about state funding and the public has more time to understand the proposed cuts.

“The notion that these are dark times for education requiring harmful cuts when there are record high state revenues is fearmongering,” the letter reads.

LAUSD's financial challenges

For the last two years, the district has relied on reserves to backfill a multi-billion-dollar deficit. There are more than 40% fewer students compared to the early 2000s and the district has not closed schools or significantly reduced staff as costs have increased. LAUSD hired more staff to support students during the pandemic, but the federal relief dollars that initially funded those positions are gone.

The layoff vote is part of a $1.4 billion “fiscal stabilization plan.” Reductions in force are proposed for several categories including “un-funded” positions, central office staff, and at schools that support higher needs students.

LAUSD must vote on the reduction in force before March 15, the deadline for California school districts to notify staff they may be laid off.

 “It is not a foregone conclusion that people will lose jobs,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho at a Jan. 20 board meeting. For example, he said staff may be reassigned to vacant positions or given the opportunity to transfer to another school.

Where are the plan details?

Several board members pressed LAUSD staff for more details at the same meeting.

“When are we going to know the central office reductions? When are we going to know how many of those [there] are?” Board Member Karla Griego asked. “In a couple of weeks, I hope.”

“No, sooner,” responded Chief Financial Officer Saman Bravo-Karimi. Bravo-Karimi said the board would be provided with the number of positions impacted and their job classifications.

LAist requested information about the proposed layoffs last week and was told by a district spokesperson that the information would not be available until the board materials were publicly posted.

California’s Brown Act requires public agencies, including school districts, to post information about their regular meetings, including a description of each matter to be discussed, at least 72 hours in advance. Some agencies opt to publish the information even earlier.

No materials related to the Feb. 10 meeting were posted by that 72-hour deadline, and the meeting was rescheduled Sunday.

LAist reached out to Board President Scott Schmerelson to discuss the delayed meeting but has not received a response as of Monday evening.

Weigh in on LAUSD’s planned layoffs

The next meeting where the board could vote on the layoff proposal is Tuesday, Feb. 17. The agenda for the meeting must be publicly posted by Saturday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m.— 72 hours before the start of the meeting. Sign up to get the agendas emailed here.