Antarctic ice-seabed interactions

We are still talking about Antarctica, the continent that keeps on giving!

Alan and Thom discuss trying to stop working momentarily, constructing a treehouse, and acquiring a shark.

In the news, we rattle off a list of newly discovered species with some very cool (but hard to pronounce) names. There has been a lot of squiddy news. Footage of divers swimming with a giant squid has resurfaced; in an exclusive for the podcast, Alan has recorded more amazing Magnapinna (bigfin or elbow squid) footage. And the biggest bit of news: the colossal squid has been seen alive in its natural habitat for the first time! Thom and Kat were part of the press conference.

Megalodon (the not-deep-sea and very extinct shark) has been reassessed based on what we do know. It was likely longer and slimmer than we thought, and we have estimations for their speed and size at birth.

We also have a new coelacanth population and a classic car found in the deep.

 

For this month's interview, we speak with Devin Harrison - Marine Geoscientist/Postdoctoral Researcher at Kelpie Geoscience - Devin is a postdoctoral research fellow at Kelpie Geoscience. His research utilises high-resolution topographic models of the seafloor and complementary geophysical and geospatial datasets to understand the geomorphic evolution and process landform relationship of the deep sea and the continental shelves. Devin is particularly interested in the glacial geomorphological record and the evolution of glacial environments from the last glacial maximum (~20-25 thousand years ago) to the present day.

 

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:

Elena

Thanks again for tuning in; we’ll deep-see you next time!

 

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

podcast@deepseapod.com

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

 

We are also on 

BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

 

Keep up with the team on social media

Twitter: 

Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

Instagram: 

Thom - @thom.linley 

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

BlueSky:

Thom @thomaslinley.com

 

Follow Kat on 

Bluesky: @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

Twitter: @ALCESonline

 

Reference list News New Species

A new species of hound shark from the northern Indian ocean, Iago goplakrishnani

 

New genus and species of feather duster worm from the hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. – Seepicola viridiplumi

Five new trench isopods in the Haploniscus belyaevi complex.

And a new dumbo octopis, Grimpoteuthis feitiana

 

Megalodon

New paper on the meg

Tyler Greenfield’s blog

 

Divers swim with giant squid

Divers Encounter a Live Giant Squid Swimming on the Ocean Surface

https://youtu.be/gZxGGQc_hRI?si=ZmRhwaIF2T9RV-Lk – original video

 

The colossal squid has been seen!

Original video with Kat’s voiceover

Kat’s piece in The Conversation

 

Deep-sea classic car

 

Interview

Dowdeswell, J.A., Canals, M., Jakobsson, M., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, E.K. and Hogan, K. (eds.), 2016. Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: Modern, Quaternary and Ancient, The Geological Society of London, London. vol. 46, 618pp. doi:10.1144/M46.

 

Batchelor, C.L., Christie, F.D.W., Ottesen, D., Montelli, A., Evans, J., Dowdeswell, E.K., Bjarnadóttir, L.R. and Dowdeswell, J.A., 2023. Rapid, buoyancy-driven ice-sheet retreat of hundreds of metres per day. Nature, vol. 617, issue 7959, p.105-110. Doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05876-1.  

 

Smith, J.A., Graham, A.G.C., Post, A.L. et al. The marine geological imprint of Antarctic ice shelves. Nat Commun 10, 5635 (2019).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13496-5

 

Seafloor surficial sediment variability across the abyssal plains of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1527469/full

 

Credits

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image: Lance Wordsworth (Inkfish Media)

Song of the month: The Midnight Zone by SLADE