The holidays were happy at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as they welcomed a baby nautilus into the world after over a year of waiting and watching. As far as they know, this is the first-ever recording of a baby nautilus hatching.
No one has ever seen a nautilus egg in the wild since they lay them far too deep for us to find. But for the last 14 months, researchers have been rocking the cradle of 150 nautilus eggs in the hopes of witnessing a rare spectacle, and they were rewarded for their efforts.
The next steps are to watch for more to hatch, keep them healthy and alive until adulthood, and then learn more and more about them along the way. You can read more about their work here.
