There’s an ancient underwater volcano in Canada; what’s more shocking is the animal that laid thousands of eggs inside

The summit of the volcano could have held 100,000 eggs — possibly even more

New Delhi | November 24, 2025 06:30 PM IST

3 min read

In 2023, scientists stumbled upon an active underwater volcano off the coast of British Columbia — and with it, an extraordinary Pacific white skate nursery hidden in the deep sea (Source: Wikimedia Commons/Citron)

When a team of scientists set out to explore an ancient underwater volcano off the coast of British Columbia in 2023, they expected an extinct seamount long past its prime. What they found instead was a world very much alive.

Not only was the volcano active, spewing warm mineral-rich fluids into the frigid Pacific, but its summit — nearly a mile beneath the ocean’s surface — was teeming with life. Deep-sea corals bloomed across its slopes, and nestled among them were thousands upon thousands of giant, leathery egg cases.

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Dr Cherisse Du Preez, a deep-sea marine biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, had led the expedition and recalled the moment with awe to Live Science. “The only previous finding of a Pacific white skate nursery was in the Galapágos, and I think was on the order of a dozen or two eggs.” This? This was something else entirely.

By her estimate, the summit of the volcano could have held 100,000 eggs — possibly even more. Each one was large, about half a metre long, and shaped like a misshapen pillow — the marine biologists affectionately call “mermaid’s purses,” because they look like a bag.

The real surprise was seeing a Pacific white skate — a mysterious, rarely glimpsed species that belongs to the same family as sharks and rays — weaving through the corals, laying her eggs in plain sight. This marked the first time researchers had captured such a moment on video, providing an unprecedented glimpse into the secretive reproductive life of a deep-sea species.

Know about the Pacific white skate

The Pacific white skate (Bathyraja spinosissima) is one of the deepest-dwelling skates known, typically found between 800 and 2,900 meters below sea level, from the northern Pacific to the coastlines of Central America. Females can grow to over six feet long and, like most fish, lay eggs rather than give birth to live young. These eggs take an astonishing four years to hatch.

But here’s where the volcano’s role becomes critical: the warmth emitted by the hydrothermal vents likely helps speed up this long gestation process. In 2018, scientists discovered similar evidence near the Galápagos, where skates appeared to utilize warm underwater vents to enhance the survival prospects of their embryos. Now, this Canadian discovery added weight to that theory.

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Du Preez explained to Live Science at the time: “The warm water likely speeds up the gestation period of the eggs, resulting in more successful juveniles. The shallow summit of the seamount is almost a coral garden and a safe nursery for juveniles to grow before they descend to the deep — it’s a win-win.”

Despite the wonder of it all, there was concern, too. The seamount was, and still is, unprotected — leaving this delicate habitat vulnerable to deep-sea fishing or other human activity. Researchers have called for greater marine conservation efforts, warning that without protection, this hidden cradle of life could be disturbed before we even begin to understand it.

Places like this are rare. They show us how much we still don’t know about the deep sea, and how interconnected everything is — geology, biology, and survival.

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