Cephalopodcast

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It’s good to be back behind the mic again. This episode has an interview with Dr. Clyde Roper, world-renowned teuthologist. We get into a brief discussion about the recent efforts to capture a living giant squid. Also the ethics of seeking these mysterious beasts and the practical considerations of trying to keep one alive in captivity.

My thanks go out to him and Debi Ingrao for their time and interest in the show. Hope you enjoy it too.

Show Notes:

01:50 Cephalopodcast Events Calendar
02:30 Now Reading plugin by Rob Miller.
03:00 The Unnatural History of the Sea
03:30 Reef by Scubazoo
03:55 Microbial Week @ Deep Sea News
05:40 Deep-sea vents ‘no climate haven’
07:50 Carl Safina, Baked Alaska. See also, Whale ’success story’ questioned
10:05 2007-2008 is the International Polar Year
10:25 NSTA Webinars: The Role of Polar Regions in Earth’s Changing Climate System
11:10 Bowhead Whales May Be the World’s Oldest Mammals and 19th Century bomb found in whale
14:15 NOAA Biofact Loan Program
15:50 Marine Mammals Ashore Stranding Field Guide, Special Pricing Through October 2007
16:41 Science Daily, Migrating Squid Drove Evolution Of Sonar In Whales And Dolphins, Researchers Argue and Whales evolved biosonar to chase squid into the deep. Compare How sperm whales use echolocation to catch prey.
18:30 Interview with Dr. Clyde Roper
29:50 Super quick last minute Squid costume
30:18 Reef Fest needs your help

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Thanks for listening. If you have ideas for future programs or feedback, please send me a message at cephalopodcast [at] gmail [dot] com, or call the Cephalo-Hotline at 1-941-256-0097. Also be sure to check out the cephal.icio.us links to see what’s coming down the ol’ Esox sp.¹ for future shows.

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A MARINE BIOLOGIST [4:14]

Band: The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
Rock

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The Pacific Science Center has a variation on a popular numbers game.

Do you Sudoku? Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku…Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. The question in this edition is:

What ancient sea reptile lived during the age of the dinosaurs in what is now Europe?

To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:

A O U S D L R P C

This might be a fun supplement for educators following along when National Geographic premieres its new giant screen film Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure on October 5th.

Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animated transports audiences back to the Late Cretaceous, when a great inland sea divided North America in two. The film follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops – familiarly known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be playing anywhere close to me. However, it’s not only a movie, it’s also a multimedia marketing blitzvideogame for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 2.

I have to think that combining these games with the standards-based lesson plans would make for a pretty interesting classroom assignment.

• PacSci-Doku - “Ancient Sea Reptile”
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Trailer
• Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure Teacher Guides for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
• See also, Nat Geo’s previous productions: When Monsters Ruled the Deep
• See also, BBC: Sea Monsters adventure game and Sea monster facts
• Puzzle hint: A O U S D L R P C: Bizarre ‘Walrus-Turtles’ of the Triassic

Backside of a fossil sharks tooth, one of the largest ever excavated in Florida. On display at the Paleo Preserve (www.paleopreserve.org).

The Florida Museum of Natural History will soon open a new exhibit called Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived

At about 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived. The dominant marine predator vanished 2 million years ago, but its story inspires lessons for ocean conservation today.

Visitors enter a full-size sculpture of Megalodon through massive jaws. Once inside, they will discover this shark’s history and the world it inhabited.

The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through January 6, 2008.

[via FMSEA]

Daniel Bensen is a scientific illustrator who, along with his cohorts, dares to ask the question:

What if the Chicxulub bolide had missed the Earth?

Some of the weirdest animals on Spec are the balaenateuths or baleen-squids, a diverse group of flippered cephalopods with highly modified tentacles. They range in size from small, mesopelagic gems to immense filter-feeding giants. Absolutely nothing like them exists or has ever existed on Home-Earth.

As with squid and cuttlefish, balaenateuths possess ten tentacles, two of which are greatly elongated and whiplike. The whips terminate in a cluster of finger-like appendages (giving rise to the term “digibrachia” or finger-arms) that are partially retracted into chambers beneath the mantle when not in use. Six arms are shorter, more conventional-looking tentacles that may be equipped with rows of suckers or hooks. The last two arms, one on the top and one on the bottom, are greatly broadened and often internally reinforced with calcite or cartilage. Only capable of vertical motion, they superficially resemble a set of vertebrate jaws and are sometimes referred to as “gnathobrachia” or jaw-arms.

It seems to follow in the footsteps of Dougal Dixon, whose books New Dinosaur and After Man I cherished as a child and still thumb through to this day. A more recent approach was undertaken by Discovery Communications.

Much, much more can be found at The Speculative Dinosaur Project. Be sure to also read up on:

• Gigamouth shark
• Yellowfin arsegill fish

Strangely, all updates from Daniel’s site seem to end circa 2005. Anyone know what’s up with that?