The Deep-Sea Podcast

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/026-vision

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Links

Here are Monty’s open-access paper on the absence of sharks from the deeper ocean

And his book, Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries.

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

PRESSURISED: 026 – Vision in the deep sea with Justin Marshall Aug 20, 2022

Show notes

Our short and to the point PRESSURISED version of episode 26. If you don't have time for the full episode and want to get right to the science without any of our waffle, this is the place to be!

Read the show notes and find the full episode here:

After recovering from you-know-what last episode, we’re excited to complete our open-water/pelagic trilogy with this week’s guest Professor Justin Marshall. Justin is an expert on all things vision, and talks us through all of the intricacies and oddities of vision in the deep sea. We discuss how fish eyes have evolved in order to adapt to the darkness of the deep, and how exactly they are able to see bioluminescence. Justin’s research has been highly influential, so we ask him more about his discoveries of mantis shrimp vision, and how he found out that cephalopods were colour-blind!

We also couldn’t let him leave without getting some of the stories from his time living in the underwater habitat for weeks, and how this led to somewhat horrifying fungal consequences.

The deep sea has seen a flurry of activity this month with lots of news to cover! MBARI has released a fascinating new video of a deep-sea squid brooding eggs. We cover some more paleo-news with surprising historical deep-sea temperatures and the discovery of new brine pools in the Red Sea.

It wouldn’t be the Deep-Sea Podcast without checking in with Don Walsh as he talks us through the history of submarine windows. And we also hear from a listener and find out how snailfish got their name.

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Glossary

Abyssopelagic – open water 4-6 km (13,000 to 20,000 ft) deep

Bathypelagic – also known as the midnight zone, open water roughly 1-4 km (3,300-13,000 ft) deep

Bathytheuthis berryi – A deep sea squid which has been observed brooding eggs

Euphotic zone – the surface and well-illuminated zone

Hadalpelagic – open water >6 km deep

Mesopelagic – also called the twilight zone, starts where 1% of light reaches and ends where there is none, roughly 200-1,000 m (656-3,280 ft) deep

Pelagic – open ocean, away from the shore and the bottom

Photic zone – the depth that light penetrates

Rod/Cone cells – two types of photoreceptors which are used by animals to detect light to be able to ‘see’.

Underwater habitat – A structure created to allow people to live underwater for extended periods. Often used for research by aquatic biologists.

Links

News article on the historical temperatures of the deep Atlantic ocean as warm as the Mediterranean

Original article published in Science on the historical Mediterranean-like temps of the deep sea

MBARI capture incredible video of a brooding squid, Bathytheuthis berryi

New brine pool discovered in the Red Sea

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220712102631.htm

Scientists discover the reason why deep-sea corals fluoresce

The ‘milky’ Java sea is caught on camera

Justin’s article on cephalopod colouration and sensitivity to light

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/026-vision

026 – Vision in the deep sea with Justin Marshall Aug 05, 2022

Show notes

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

We also couldn’t let him leave without getting some of the stories from his time living in the Atlantis underwater habitat for weeks, and how this led to somewhat horrifying fungal consequences.

The deep sea has seen a flurry of activity this month with lots of news to cover! Our favourite cryptozoologist, Tyler Greenfield is at the epicentre of a monster-misunderstanding. Thom’s upset as yet another innocent fish is labelled the ‘ugliest creature ever seen’ by fishermen, but this time it’s a more familiar face. We also cover some more paleo-news with surprising historical deep-sea temperatures and the discovery of new brine pools in the Red Sea. Alan gives us an insight into his upcoming adventures at sea and we find out why he isn’t the biggest fan of documentarians.

It wouldn’t be the Deep-Sea Podcast without checking in with Don Walsh as he talks us through the history of submarine windows. And we also hear from a listener and find out what snailfish and The Kardashians have in common…

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Glossary

Abyssopelagic – open water 4-6 km (13,000 to 20,000 ft) deep
Bathypelagic – also known as the midnight zone, open water roughly 1-4 km (3,300-13,000 ft) deep
Bathytheuthis berryi – A deep sea squid which has been observed brooding eggs
Coprophage – An animal that eats poop
Cryptozoology – The study of species whose existence is rumoured or disputed.
Euphotic zone – the surface and well-illuminated zone
Hadalpelagic – open water >6 km deep
Loch Ness – A loch (large freshwater lake) in the Scottish Highlands which is best known for the alleged sightings of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ since 1933.
Mesopelagic – also called the twilight zone, starts where 1% of light reaches and ends where there is none, roughly 200-1,000 m (656-3,280 ft) deep
Monkfish – A wide-mouthed commonly-found fish who perhaps isn’t the most beautiful, but definitely could be considered tasty.
Pelagic – open ocean, away from the shore and the bottom
Photic zone – the depth that light penetrates
Rod/Cone cells – two types of photoreceptors which are used by animals to detect light to be able to ‘see’.
Underwater habitat – A structure created to allow people to live underwater for extended periods. Often used for research by aquatic biologists.

Links

We Build Spaceships

YouTube

News article dubbing yet another innocent fish as ‘the ugliest thing fisherman has ever seen’.

Justin also has a citizen science program called Coral Watch which allows divers to report on coral health

Tyler’s blog on cryptozoology and his Twitter @TylerGreenfieId

News article on the historical temperatures of the deep Atlantic ocean as warm as the Mediterranean

Original article published in Science on the historical Mediterranean-like temps of the deep sea

MBARI capture incredible video of a brooding squid, Bathytheuthis berryi

A paper on this squid

New brine pool discovered in the Red Sea

The ‘milky’ Java sea is caught on camera

Justin’s article on cephalopod colouration and sensitivity to light

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/025-biolum

PRESSURISED: 025 – Bioluminescence with Edie Widder Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

Our short and to the point PRESSURISED version of episode 25. If you don't have time for the full episode and want to get right to the science without any of our waffle, this is the place to be!

Read the show notes and find the full episode here:

Last episode we learned about the pelagic zone, the largest habitat on earth, a boundless 3D space where enormous migrations take place. We learned that this isn’t a world of darkness but rather one of biological light, where bioluminescence is used to attack, to defend and to communicate. While producing your own light may seem alien to us, it is likely the most common form of communication on the planet.

To learn more about this world we speak with Edie Widder, who has studied bioluminescence for her whole career and used the same adaptations found in the animals to design her own equipment. She developed the Eye in the Sea, a camera system invisible to most deep-sea animals, and a lure which emulated a bioluminescent jellyfish, the e-jelly. The gear worked extremely well and along with a lot of behaviours observed for the first time this also captured the first footage of the giant squid, Architeuthis dux.

In recent news we talk about how plate tectonics impact our climate, what we can learn from the evolution of cave animals and generating power from the thermocline. Don Walsh tells us why these bioluminescent creatures are a nuisance to submarines.

Check out our podcast merch!

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Alien species invasion of deep-sea bacteria into mouse gut microbiota

Links

Plate tectonics and climate

Paper

Blind cave animal evolution

Power generation from deep, cold water

Edith (Edie) Widder

Wikipedia

ORCA

Cookie-cutter shark paper

Below the Edge of Darkness

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Glossary

Bioluminescence – Biologically generated light

Cenozoic era – 50 million years ago when the earth started cooling

Cretaceous hothouse – 145-66 million years ago where temperatures were 10°C

Deep Worker – a small, single person sub

Electronic jellyfish – A bioluminescent bait

Esca – The lure on anglerfish

Eye in the sea – A red light illuminated camera with a electronic jellyfish as bait

Fermi bubbles – Listen to the end

Magnapinna – The genus of the bigfin squid

Marine snow – The biological material (bodies, poop and shells) singing into the deep sea

Moribund – Something that is dying and cannot be saved

Olm – A type of blind cave salamander

Photomultiplier – Tech that boosts very weak sources of light

Promachoteuthis – The genus of squid that was seen on Edie’s camera system

Squid jig – A lure used to fish for squid

Stoplight fish - Deep-sea dragonfishes of the genus Malacosteus that can both see and produce red light

Thermocline – layer of sudden temperature change in the sea

Tubeshoulder – Deep-sea fish with a specialised organ that squirts bioluminescent material

Wasp suit – A deep-sea diving suit

PRESSURISED: 024 – The pelagic deep sea with Tracey Sutton Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

Our short and to the point PRESSURISED version of episode 24. If you don't have time for the full episode and want to get right to the science without any of our waffle, this is the place to be!

Read the show notes and find the full episode here:

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/024-pelagic

We have a confession to make. We talk a big game about how we are busting myths, tackling deep-sea tropes and showing the deep ocean as it really is… but we have been guilty of one of the big ones. The deep sea is not just the bottom! Most of the deep sea, in fact, most of the habitat of this planet is the huge open 3D environment of open water or ‘pelagic’ water. In this staggering volume the planets largest migration takes place twice a day. Animals are locked in an evolutionary arms race, using their own light to deceive and trick. Finding a meal is rare, finding a mate is rare and life is without boundaries. These factors have led to some truly wild evolution.

We hear from Don about hunting for the 'deep scattering layer' (DSL) before we even knew what it was.

In recent news we cover Edith Widder and her new book Below the Edge of Darkness, underwater GPS through the power of a pong, following the yellow brick road to meet the deep-sea wizard and some lovely new footage of a highfin dragonfish.

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Carbon export model for mesopelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Glossary

Abyssopelagic – open water 4-6 km (13,000 to 20,000 ft) deep

Aphotic zone – depths deeper than life penetrates

Bathypelagic – also known as the midnight zone, open water roughly 1-4 km (3,300-13,000 ft) deep

Benthic – associated with the bottom, how we usually think about the deep sea

Deep Scattering Layer (DSL) – a ‘false bottom’ created on sonar by huge numbers of open water animals

Dragonfish – deep-sea predators of the family Stomiidae

Dysphotic zone – the depth that light still penetrates but photosynthesis is becoming unviable

Euphotic zone – the surface and well illuminated zone

Hadalpelagic – open water >6 km deep

Mesopelagic – also called the twilight zone, starts where 1% of light reaches and ends where there is none, roughly 200-1,000 m (656-3,280 ft) deep

Myctophids – Lanternfish, fish responsible for the biggest carbon movements on the planet

Nictoepipelagic – The wink on the open sea. Great word for these vertical migrators

Pelagic – open ocean, away from the shore and the bottom

Photic zone – the depth that light penetrates

Vertical migration – the twice daily migration of deep-sea animals up to the surface to feed

Links

Tracey’s lab website

The synthesis paper of a decade of research into the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Open access

Edith Widder

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

025 – Bioluminescence with Edie Widder Jul 02, 2022

Show notes

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/025-biolum

Sorry that this episode isn’t the perfectly polished jewel that this show usually is. Thom’s family got a visit from both COVID and chickenpox so there hasn’t been the time or energy to edit as well as he usually does. But we couldn’t abandon you without an episode this month as some great stuff is still covered.

Last episode we leaned about the pelagic zone, the largest habitat on earth, a boundless 3D space where enormous migrations take place. We learned that this isn’t a world of darkness but rather one of biological light, where bioluminescence is used to attack, to defend and to communicate. While producing your own light may seem alien to us, it is likely the most common form of communication on the planet.

In recent news we talk about how plate tectonics impact our climate, what we can learn from the evolution of cave animals and generating power from the thermocline. We hear from a listener about their bigfin squid archive. Larkin drops by to tell us what a ‘Tron Dolphin’ and Don Walsh tells us why those same Tron Dolphins are a nuisance to submarines.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own comments on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Check out our podcast merch!

Glossary

Bioluminescence – Biologically generated light

Cenozoic era – 50 million years ago when the earth started cooling

Cretaceous hothouse – 145-66 million years ago where temperatures were 10°C

Deep Worker – a small, single person sub

Electronic jellyfish – A bioluminescent bait

Esca – The lure on anglerfish

Eye in the sea – A red light illuminated camera with a electronic jellyfish as bait

Fermi bubbles – Listen to the end

Magnapinna – The genus of the bigfin squid

Marine snow – The biological material (bodies, poop and shells) singing into the deep sea

Moribund – Something that is dying and cannot be saved

Olm – A type of blind cave salamander

Photomultiplier – Tech that boosts very weak sources of light

Promachoteuthis – The genus of squid that was seen on Edie’s camera system

Squid jig – A lure used to fish for squid

Stoplight fish - Deep-sea dragonfishes of the genus Malacosteus that can both see and produce red light

Thermocline – layer of sudden temperature change in the sea

Tubeshoulder – Deep-sea fish with a specialised organ that squirts bioluminescent material

Wasp suit – A deep-sea diving suit

Links

Mötley Crüe - Hooligan's Holiday

Video

Tyler Greenfield on Twitter

Finding the Samule B Roberts, deepest wreck.

Alien species invasion of deep-sea bacteria into mouse gut microbiota

Plate tectonics and climate

Paper

Blind cave animal evolution

Power generation from deep, cold water

Edith (Edie) Widder

Cookie-cutter shark paper

Below the Edge of Darkness

Larkin’s YouTube channel, Instagram and TicTok

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Public domain images

Holder, Charles Frederick (1892) Along the Florida Reef, New York City, NY: D. Appleton and Company, p. 263

Jordan, David Starr (1907) Fishes, New York City, NY: Henry Holt and Company

024 – The pelagic deep sea with Tracey Sutton Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/024-pelagic

We also tackle a couple of listener questions: Whatever happened to the word ‘nictoepipelagic’ which seems to have vanished from scientific writing? We also discuss parasites in the deep sea, how can they find a specific host when the animals are so spread out? We hear from Don about hunting for the 'deep scattering layer' (DSL) before we even knew what it was and find out where Larkin has been from her new vessel on the Gulf of Mexico.

We also find ourselves talking about how the deep sea is portrayed in children’s books and learn that apparently zesty citrus and floral smells are associated with the deep ocean… who knew?!

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Carbon export model for mesopelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Glossary

Abyssopelagic – open water 4-6 km (13,000 to 20,000 ft) deep

Aphotic zone – depths deeper than life penetrates

Bathypelagic – also known as the midnight zone, open water roughly 1-4 km (3,300-13,000 ft) deep

Benthic – associated with the bottom, how we usually think about the deep sea

Deep Scattering Layer (DSL) – a ‘false bottom’ created on sonar by huge numbers of open water animals

Dragonfish – deep-sea predators of the family Stomiidae

Dysphotic zone – the depth that light still penetrates but photosynthesis is becoming unviable

Euphotic zone – the surface and well illuminated zone

Hadalpelagic – open water >6 km deep

Mesopelagic – also called the twilight zone, starts where 1% of light reaches and ends where there is none, roughly 200-1,000 m (656-3,280 ft) deep

Myctophids – Lanternfish, fish responsible for the biggest carbon movements on the planet

Nictoepipelagic – The wink on the open sea. Great word for these vertical migrators

Pelagic – open ocean, away from the shore and the bottom

Photic zone – the depth that light penetrates

Vertical migration – the twice daily migration of deep-sea animals up to the surface to feed

Links

Tracey’s lab website

The synthesis paper of a decade of research into the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Open access

Rosetta stoned by TOOL

Edith Widder

Dragonfish and the Video

Rainbowfish discovers the deep sea

Deep Dive into Deep Sea

Larkin’s YouTube channel and Instagram

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Some of Thom’s pics from the Mid-Atlantic

023 – Keeping deep-sea animals with The Monterey Bay Aquarium May 07, 2022

Show notes

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/023-deep-aquaria

Can we safely bring deep-sea organisms to the surface and keep them alive? Certain species, such as the giant isopods and giant Japanese spider crabs have been kept in aquaria in the past but the number of animals we can maintain long-term is quite small. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new Into the Deep exhibition has succeeded in keeping animals never before put on public display, some are even new to science. Not only that, but they have even had some success in getting them to reproduce! Figuring out what conditions these animals need and observing them over long periods will allow us to learn huge amounts about animals we usually only get a glimpse of. We talk with aquarists Ellen Umeda and Michelle Kaiser and life-support engineer Brian Maurer about the years of work that went into keeping these animals and giving the public a very personal deep-sea experience.

In the rest of the episode, Alan is back in the UK and we get to record in ‘the very quiet room’. We discuss data sharing and the complexities of charging for data that may otherwise not be taken, visiting the Explorers Club in New York and language barriers within science.

I also call Alan’s bluff and present him with a lovely Deep-Sea Podcast apron which he then proceeds to wear in Hell’s Kitchen in New York.

We hear from a listener about how the podcast helped them through a difficult time and answer a listener question about the danger of entanglement for undersea vehicles. If you’d like to record a question or comment please do and send it to the email below. We would love to include you on the show.

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Glossary

AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Gravid – the animal is full of eggs and getting close to spawning

Laminar flow – a simple water flow, no eddies

ROV – Remotely Operated Vehicle

Spawning – release of eggs and sperm

Vertical migrator – animals that rise up from the deep sea at night to feed at the surface

Links

Our new merch!

Let ‘Em Go by The Wildhearts

TMAO in molecular machines

Video

The Explorers Club

Mapping the ocean floor

Scientific Tower of Babel

Into the Deep:

Aquarium YouTube Channel

Online exhibition

Deep-sea adaptation story with video

Bioluminescence story with video

Animal information story

Exhibition development with life support diagram

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Bloody-belly comb jelly – Monterey Bay Aquarium

022 – Live-streaming the deep with Kasey Cantwell Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/022-dive-streaming

One of the most exciting parts of our job is going to places that no one has ever been before and seeing things that no one has ever seen. It turns out, we were making that far harder than it needs to be, we can do all this from home! Several of the big names in deep-sea exploration live-stream (or dive-stream if we’re being cute). With just a few seconds delay, you can see deep-sea exploration as it happens and may be present for very significant finds. You never know what you’re going to find down there.

The big players in this space are the Schmidt Ocean Institute, Nautilus Live from the Ocean Exploration Trust and Ocean Exploration/Okeanos Explorer from NOAA. We are lucky enough to chat with Kasey Cantwell, the Operations Chief of the NOAA Ocean Exploration Expeditions and Exploration Division. We talk about the amazing opportunities this new way of doing science presents. From allowing 300 experts to take part, to swapping out your expert team when you find something unexpected and even the physical and societal barriers that can be removed. But it’s not just about getting science done, it’s about sharing these experiences with everyone. Online communities are forming around these streams and illustrations, poetry and memes are just as valid outputs.

In recent news we hear how preparations are going for Alan’s upcoming cruise. We talk about the octopus garden providing a nice warm spot to brood eggs, living underwater for long periods of time and the evolution of early vamperoids.

No episode would be complete without our regular check-in with Don Walsh to hear about his involvement with the early days of ROV and AUV research.

Check out our podcast merch! Please do send in any pics of you wearing the merch. We find the idea of real people in the actual world wearing this so surreal!

We also have a UK-based job advertised. Why not come and help us with the podcast and some other fun stuff. More details here.

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or you own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We are also on

Twitter: @ArmatusO

Facebook: ArmatusOceanic

Instagram: @armatusoceanic

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Glossary

AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Berth – Beds available onboard a ship basically

Manganese nodule – potato shaped balls of metal that form on the seabed, the focus of deep-sea mining

ROV – Remotely Operated Vehicle

Taxonomist – A specialist in categorising a specific group of species.

Telepresence – Live-streaming what you’re doing on the internet

Links

Our new merch!

Tangaroa by Alien Weaponry

YouTube