It sometimes pays to examine closely tanks that at first glance look empty. This winter an octopus on the east wall laid eggs which hatched hundreds, if not thousands, of baby octopuses. Octopus rubescens, commonly known as red octopus, are much smaller than the more widely recognized Giant Pacific octopus. The one in the east tank is sometimes difficult to see; she is the size of an adult’s hand and can hide in very tight spaces. When she laid a cluster of eggs between a rock and the tank glass, she guarded them closely, aerating them around the clock. Visitors and staff were able to see the mom and egg cluster so well, they could even discern eyes in the eggs. An octopus lays 500 to 3,000 eggs only once in its lifetime, sheltering the eggs and refusing to eat. Soon after the babies have hatched, the mother dies. Babies started hatching in early December and continued hatching for a couple of weeks. Slightly larger than a head of a pin and barely visible to the naked eye, the translucent babies swam in the gravel and throughout the tank. The babies have been released into intertidal areas where their chances of survival were greater than in our tanks that constantly circulate fresh water and might flush such small creatures through the system. The opportunity to see this unique display will end when all of the babies have hatched and the mother dies; but keep looking in the tanks. There are always exciting things for the careful viewer to find.