Scientists exploring an underwater volcano off Canada's Pacific coast made some surprising discoveries. They found that an ancient volcano, once thought to be inactive, is actually still active and releasing warm fluids into the surrounding waters. That wasn’t the most surprising part of the team’s discovery; the volcano's slopes are covered with possibly up to a million large eggs.
According to a marine biologist on the team, the eggs belong to the Pacific white skate, a deep-sea fish related to rays and sharks. These skates seem to use the volcano's warmth to help incubate their eggs, which can take up to four years to hatch. The heat likely speeds up development, giving the young skates a better chance of survival. Researchers even captured the first-ever footage of a female skate laying eggs among the corals on the volcano's summit.