Cephalopodcast

It’s Deep-Sea Coral Week over at the Deep-Sea News blog, from April 27-May 3. It’s worth a look, with many interesting posts already up and many more to come each day.

Coral Reefs and Creatures of the Deep Sea

One of the podcasts I enjoy listening to is the Naked Scientists. Back on 23rd April 2006 they did a show featuring not only deep sea corals but giant squid too. It’s two great tastes that go great together, and you can check it out yourself. Skip the boring stuffastrophysics at the beginning and forward the transport controls to minute 32:00 to hear the interesting stuff.

Delving into the dark depths of science this week is Dr Ron Douglas from City University in London, who describes the fascinating world of deep sea fish, bioluminescence and the sights from a deep sea sub, Dr Jason Hall-Spencer from the University of Plymouth talks about cold water corals and the threats posed by fishermen, and from slightly warmer waters Dr David Kline from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama reveals how Caribbean corals are suffering due to sugar pollution. Also in the show, Fran Beckerleg interviews John Ablett at the Natural History Museum in London about a giant squid called Archie, and getting the low down on the high seas, Derek Thorne finds out how a submarine works in Kitchen Science.

• Naked Scientists Podcast: Coral Reefs and Creatures of the Deep Sea

The NewHour with Jim Lehrer did a profile on Claire Nouvian’s new book, The Deep.

French wildlife journalist Claire Nouvian has put together a book of newly discovered sea life called “The Deep.” Her work demonstrates new techniques scientists are employing to discover and document these creatures.

• PBS NewsHour: Claire Nouvian audio interview download
• PBS NewsHour online slideshow: Deep Ocean Creatures
• Additonal Science Reports from the NewsHour
• The website: The Deep
• The book: The Deep

Researchers from WHOI have used new technology to track one of the more elusive whale species. They discovered something surprising:

For years, sperm whales and elephant seals were thought to hold world records for holding their breath under water. But those animals have nothing on beaked whales.

Using digital tags temporarily suction-cupped to two species of beaked whales, researchers led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution tracked Cuvier’s beaked whales diving to depths of nearly 6,230 feet (1,900 meters) and staying down for 85 minutes. They also documented smaller Blainville’s beaked whales diving 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) for up to 57 minutes.

“These data establish beaked whales as the extreme breath-hold champions of all animals studied so far,” said WHOI engineer Mark Johnson, who developed the “D-tags,” which record whale movements, their echolocations, and other underwater sounds.

• The Deepest Divers
• Wikipedia: Beaked Whales
• Beaked Whale Resource

The first expedition of NOAA Ocean Exploration’s 2007 field season, Cayman Islands Twilight Zone, is now available on their website. The expedition runs from May 20-June 10, 2007.

During the trip, scientist will study coral reefs of the “twilight zone” in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba. These reefs have been studied much less than shallow and deep-water reefs because they are beyond the safe range of conventional SCUBA equipment, yet are too shallow and close to shore to justify the use of expensive submersibles and ROVs.

This shore-based mission will employ new diving techniques that allow scientists to personally visit deep-water ecosystems without the need for expensive submersibles. Divers will utilize both open- and closed-circuit diving systems, as well as breathe special gas mixtures, including Nitrox and Trimix.

Web coverage for this mission includes Biotechnology, Technical Diving, and Biodiversity content essays written especially for this mission. Web logs, including video and images, written by scientists and other explorers at sea capture daily activities and discoveries. An “Ask an Explorer” feature is also available to submit questions to and receive answers from the explorers while they are engaged in the mission.

• Cayman Islands Twilight Zone

[via TONMO]

The companion website to Claire Nouvian’s book has a gallery of deep sea critters that you can glance through. Note especially the Dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis sp.), Glowing sucker octopus (Stauroteuthis syrtensis), Telescope octopus (Amphitretus pelagicus) and an egg-bearing Black-eyed squid (Gonatus onyx). All very well photographed and tentacley. Splash page includes ethereal, mysterious music too so you know you are underwater.

The Deep
The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss
By Claire Nouvian

Featuring 220 color photographs of deep ocean species, some photographed for the first time.

• The website: The Deep
• The book: The Deep
• Tree of Life profile: Amphitretidae, the Telescope octopus
• Bridge Lesson Plans: Deep Sea