After an epic weekend of rounding up the final gear for #ProjectESCA season 2, @thomaslinley.com and I join Aurora Expeditions' MV Douglas Mawson today to start our next Antarctic squidchasing adventure!

#ProjectESCA has arrived in Dunedin to make final preparations before we sail out for Antarctica on Monday to go squidchasing. @thomaslinley.com and I are hoping this is a good omen...

T -5 days to the next voyage! Want to know the story of #ProjectESCA? @thomaslinley.com and I chatted about how we got here on the @deepseapod.com in honor of the colossal squid's 100th birthday www.deepseapod.com/episodes/056...

Welcome to #ProjectESCA season 2! A week from tomorrow, @thomaslinley.com of the @deepseapod.com & I sail for Antarctica for 5 weeks with Aurora Expeditions, with our deep-sea camera system and a few new toys as well. With a little luck, we'll have some exciting to stories to share; stay tuned!

We covered Cookie Cutter Sharks a few years ago on our show. Amazing creatures! Very cool to see this little guy. Still a #NoThanks to going for a swim with one. strangebynaturepodcast.podbean.com/e/cookie-cut...

Too many cookies over Christmas? Why not use a smaller #cookiecuttershark to cut back? Adorable little horror.

#anglerfish are so gross and scary! Oh really, have you seen the babies? They look like a furious peeled grape! #deepsea

I wondered why I was randomly drawn to this doorway. 2nd image: Smithsonian image by Dave Johnson of Harvard MCZ specimen 60585

You ready for our 2026 Valentines?? The art is ready for ya 😍 As with everything on our shop, sales of these valentines support @skypeascientist.bsky.social! This year's cards were designed by Philly artist @aprilfinfrock.bsky.social! Obsessed with how these turned out. order at SquidFacts.net

A gem from Andrew's book collection. Giving me nostalgia for Northern Hemisphere fishes... Where cod are cod dammit!

Conjoined African Rift Valley cichlids at the local aquarium. While one certainly got the short straw, both are alive at 9 days old.

A really nice video by @schmidtocean.bsky.social about our #Antarctic expedition. It captures some of the emotion of being there and the sense of urgency. I would not have been able to join if not for the support of @pure-ocean.bsky.social and #TePapa youtu.be/C4e3GZkGwxk?...

Checking out our new neighbours @mitre10.bsky.social and loving seeing Te Papa feature so prominently on the mural as a Wellington icon.

Managed to catch #MonstersoftheDeep at #AberdeenArtGallery. A fun and grounded exhibit on mythical #monsters, #hoaxes and real #deepsea #science. Including some of our old work.

When a paragraph of text can make an image believable enough to fool nanna on Facebook, how can we help our listeners spot fakes. @TylerGreenfieId joins us again to help us tell the megs from the mermaids. www.deepseapod.com/episodes/062... #podcast #AIArt #AIHoax #cryptozoologist

Johanna was the first person to use our new #deepsea answerphone to tell us about her @schmidtocean.bsky.social expedition going #viral in #Argentina. A whole country following #deepocean exploration together. Check our the full episode and our wider reading here: www.deepseapod.com/episodes/062...

The magic of cross polarisation! It's tough taking pics of fish. They're so shiny and it can hide the details. If you polarise the light source and then add a polarising filter to the camera you can filter out all the scatter and be left with the beautiful details and colour.

Introducing the Unseen Oceans Collective! Formed in 2026 this collective is bringing deep-ocean fine art and science events to international venues in 2025 and 2026. #sciart #scienceartists #unseenoceancollective #deep-sea #womeninscience #deepocean

quick test print 🐡 ... have to do some corrections

More nonsense from our #Antarctic data processing. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsi) were attracted to the ROV lights. This one shoots off like #roderunner. @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

Me and @autsquidsquad.bsky.social have been annotating @schmidtocean.bsky.social #Antarctic footage today and it may have driven us a little.... Strange. #soundon #Cephalopods #octopus #antarctica

We had a lot of gin-fueled fun on this one, @kaithefishguy.bsky.social is a good hang. We also touch on #geekdome and meeting your idols at a #conference.

#newepisode just dropped! Environmental #DNA or #eDNA is the study of genetic material in the #environment. How can we apply it to the #deepsea? Revealing the hidden majority, changes through time and community structure, the possibilities seem endless. open.spotify.com/episode/2XQv...

I haven't seen this misleading labelling method before. I was recommended the one on the right as better value. 10 mg of nothing is still nothing.

Dr Kat Bolstad (@autsquidsquad.bsky.social ) worked with glass squid expert Dr. Aaron Evans to help confirm this observation; she narrated this video. Read the full Schmidt Ocean Institute announcement here: schmidtocean.org/first-coloss...

Young colossal squid footage! theconversation.com/a-century-af...

🦑 This baby is COLOSSAL! 🦑 First confirmed live observation of the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in its natural habitat. Filmed at about 600m near the South Sandwich Islands during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition. youtu.be/lzPoG9H8Hlo

#ColossalSquid has been filmed in its natural habitat for the first time! Filmed in #Antarctica by @schmidtocean.bsky.social, we just had a press conference to share the news. @autsquidsquad.bsky.social provides the voiceover and context for the video. youtu.be/lzPoG9H8Hlo @pure-ocean.bsky.social

I was on @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy #NinetoNoon this morning talking about joining the @schmidtocean.bsky.social expedition to explore a newly exposed area of #Antarctic #deepsea www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro... #TePapa @pure-ocean.bsky.social

I hope I didn't break anything... Me and the podcast now have our own domains! You can find The Deep-Sea #Podcast @deepseapod.com And me here @thomaslinley.com Hopefully old tags should still go to the right place. #deepsea #deepocean #marinebiology #science

We can now talk about what we found on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social #AntarcticClimateConnections expedition! A huge section of #iceshelf broke off and politely got out of the way, allowing us to observe pristine under-ice habitat. #TePapa @pure-ocean.bsky.social phys.org/news/2025-03...

The #blobfish is #NZFishoftheyear! Our maligned ambassador of the #deepsea and precious baby finally gets recognition. 2nd place went to another #deepocean fish, the #OrangeRoughy. Check out the #TePapa #blog for the origin of that iconic image. blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2024/09/09/t...

A huge thanks to #IntrepidTravel for having me and @autsquidsquad.bsky.social aboard to deploy our #ProjectESCA #squid lure in #Antartica.

Happy bday colossal squid! The species was described in 1925 so @deepseapod.com & I did a centenary episode on the @deepseapodcast.bsky.social - www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/056-... 🦑🎉 Gorgeous artwork thanks to Gareth, a guest on our recent #Antarctic voyage with #IntrepidTravel for #ProjectESCA

The score card is in, over 800 #newspecies for @oceancensus.bsky.social! Our new #eelpout are among them. Here's to many more!

A nice side effect of joining #IntrepidTravel is the chance for #scicomm - talks on #ProjectESCA & #colossalsquid. Loving the guest engagement and #fanart! Last night they were on the @deepseapodcast.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social @pure-ocean.bsky.social #Te_Papa @autnews.bsky.social

Master Squidcrafter Heather has been at it again. Not sure #IntrepidTravel realized just what they were in for by having the #ProjectESCA team aboard--we brought a rather large stowaway! #colossalsquid @deepseapod.bsky.social @pure-ocean.bsky.social @AUTnews.bsky.social #Antarctica #deepsea

It's happening! @autsquidsquad.bsky.social and I are out with #IntrepidTravel deploying #ProjectESCA in search of the #ColossalSquid. Supported by @pure-ocean.bsky.social, #Te_Papa and #AutScience, we have developed a suitcase-sized light lure and camera system. #deepsea #deepocean #Antarctica

If you want some distraction and hear about the fish living in Antarctica, I had a great time chatting with Dr Thom @deepseapod.com about my favorite fishes! 🇦🇶🐟 There's a short and a long version depending on how much time you have! And give the other episodes a listen too! They're great!

We're off! Setting sail for Antarctica to chase some squids with the #ProjectESCA camera system and @deepseapod.com, thanks to @pureocean.bsky.social and Intrepid Travel. Bring me that horizon!

New #podcast episode just dropped, coming to you live from #Antarctica! We talk to @notothentoma.bsky.social about the amazing adaptations of #Antarctic #fish: Clear blood, antifreeze and parental care. www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/055-...

Ceph street art sighting! Spotted these arms on the side of a building in Ushuaia, Argentina, while out and about with @deepseapod.com as we prep to take #ProjectESCA to the Antarctic Peninsula next week

More wonders from #AntarcticClimateConnections #polychaete #bristleworm Brought up in immaculate condition.

A #MinkeWhale came by to say hi. #whale #marinemammals #AntarcticClimateConnections

Close Inkounter! #ProjectESCA gets its next squiddy visitor, a glacial squid (P. glacialis) around 800m. It gifts us a few puffs of ink, then drifts back into the dark Antarctic #deepsea. #antarcticclimateconnections #PureOceanFund @schmidtocean.bsky.social @deepseapod.com

With our new deep-sea low-light camera on #ProjectESCA, we can see #bioluminescence as well as the animals illuminated by our lights. This might be a 'shrimp spew', a series of blobs of glowing mucous produced as a decoy to give the animal a chance to escape a perceived threat

A feel for #AntarcticClimateConnections and why this project's important. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr89...

A #bioluminescent #psudomorph captured by #ProjectESCA. Many animals use light to distract a predator. Some bind it in mucose to give it a shape. Like throwing your shadow so you can get away. #antarcticclimateconnections #PureOceanFund @schmidtocean.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

Tiny planet #360video #Antarctica #Iceberg @schmidtocean.bsky.social @pure-ocean.bsky.social

I can see my house from here #AntarcticClimateConnections #Antarctica