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We all know that Thom and Alan aren’t the biggest fans of ‘air-breathers’ aka. marine mammals like dolphins and whales, but there are a few species that are allowed into the deep-sea club. We hear from Dr Nicola Quick who researches the incredibly elusive beaked whales, a group that likely spends the majority of their time in the deep sea. These interesting whales have been seen diving to depths of 3000 m, which way exceeds the max depth of their more-famous-cousin, the sperm whale (who usually hang out at around 1500m deep).
It also turns out that we as humans have something in common with these deep diving critters: the mammalian dive response. We hear from Dr Ryan ‘Beefy’ Beecroft, a sub engineer and keen free-diver, who explains to us what deep diving feels like when you are an air breather.
What’s more, the Professor tells the story about the infamous Goblet of Hades. If you manage to see this little piece of history in the background of documentaries, please do send a pic in!
We’re really trying to make this project self-sustaining so we have started looking for ways to support the podcast. Here’s a link to our page on how to support us, from the free options to becoming a patron of the show. We want to say a huge thank you to those patrons who have already pledged to support us:
Andy Koenig | Trace Ritchey | Harley Pollitt | Alice
Thanks again for tuning in, we’ll deep-see you next time!
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Twitter: Alan - @Hadalbloke, Thom - @ThomLinley, Georgia - @geeinthesea
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Further resources
links
More information on Nicola
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/nicola-quick
https://scholars.duke.edu/person/nicola.quick/
Nicola’s paper on tagging the deep-diving beaked whales
NEWS
Andrew’s hadal coffee blog from back in the day
The blue Atacama snailfish has some fanart
The quest for the bibby. It seems to be from a RPG project called Snail Morning about hadal snailfish.Twitter & Blog
Deep-sea neutrino telescope in the Western Pacific
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02087-6
https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2310104693/
Seals To Exploit Sparse Deep-sea Prey
A link to Markus’ blog with info and illustrations of beaked whales (and other cool marine critters)
Soundtrack of the month:
The Hagfish Incident by Louie Zong
Context:
The incident it is paying tribute to is when a truck carrying Police in Oregon were in a slimy situation on Thursday after a truck carrying 7,500 pounds of live hagfish failed to stop at a construction site and spilled its contents onto the highway and over surrounding cars.
“As the tanks fall down, slime will coat your Toyota Preus”
News report:
https://youtu.be/ctoBivu2NSE?si=oafVp4RgcWevlWbt
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/hagfish-slime-oregon-highway
Credits
Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel
Logo image - NOAA Fisheries
Glossary
Bounce dives - A series of shorter, shallower dives for beaked whales in between really big, deep dives to >1500 m
Cetacean - The group name for whales and dolphins
Cuvier's Beaked Whale - One of the most frequently sighted species of beaked whales in the world. They are found in most oceans and seas worldwide and have the most extensive range of all beaked whale species.
Epiglottis - The small, movable "lid" just above the larynx that prevents food and drink from entering the windpipe.
Foraging - A technical term for ‘finding food’.
Mammal - A vertebrate that breathes air, has mammary glands and three inner ear bones.
PAMs (Passive acoustic monitoring) - Surveying and monitoring wildlife and environments using sound recorders (acoustic sensors).
Pod - The term for a group of cetaceans.
VHF antenna - A VHF marine radio antenna is used to transmit and receive VHF marine radio signals enabling communication with other boats, as well as with the shore and other emergency services.
Ziphiidae - The family name for beaked whales.