A large southern red
octopus (Enteroctopus
megalocyathus) rests
on a bed of sea urchins
at Isla de los Estados.
Sea urchins are vora-
cious kelp feeders,
capable of denuding
entire forests—but here
the forests still thrive.
Octopuses eat fish and
crabs, dead and alive.
I’ve seen
the dramatic
changes in our
oceans caused
by climate
change: the
death of coral
reefs and the
shrinking of
Arctic sea ice.
What would
we find here
beneath the
surface?
THE SEA AT THE END OF THE WORLD 105