@etspencer.bsky.social
Marine ecologist, science writer, lover of all things weird in the ocean. Currently: Comms around mesophotic & deep restoration in the Gulf. Order The Incredible Octopus now: https://tinyurl.com/66s9xj2p
Absolutely spectacular images from @schmidtocean.bsky.social's recent expedition in Argentina. The team documented the largest known Bathelia candida coral reef (nearly the size of the Vatican!) and 28 suspected new species. Learn more in their expedition recap: schmidtocean.org/argentinas-d... 🌊🦑🧪🐟
20.02.2026 14:13 — 👍 65 🔁 22 💬 0 📌 0
New study quantifies the impacts of mining on deep sea organisms. Researchers found:
🪱number of organisms decreased by 37% in mining tracks
⚖️number of species decreased by 32% in mining tracks, making the remaining community more unbalanced
Read the paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌊🦑🧪
A picture of Dawn Wright, Esri Chief Scientist, with a quote: "Join us on the path toward generating positive climate action and find out how to use the geographic approach to empower the world you want to see."
What can you do to helpt turn climate change around? 🌱 Use GIS! 🌐
Register for our free course and learn how. We'll provide all the data and software you need: ow.ly/r4lf50Y6zUz
#gischat #geogsky #geosky 🧪 🦑 ⚒️ 🌊 🌎 🌍 🌏
Mondays are better with an octopus squid 🦑💫
The octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) is unusual among squids. Most squids have eight arms and two long tentacles, making a total of 10 appendages. As young Octopoteuthis mature, their two feeding tentacles are reabsorbed into their bodies.
This is so unnerving. "For more than a century, scientific journals have been the pipes through which knowledge of the natural world flows into our culture. Now they’re being clogged with AI slop." 🧪
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Fun new paper documenting deep-sea fishes off Puerto Rico. The paper documents some interesting observations, including how diversity changes with depth & even how cusk eels are an important but understudied part of abyssal & hadal communities. 🦑🐟🌊
Read it here: academic.oup.com/icesjms/arti...
And this stunner!! 🦑🌊🧪🌍 Spotted in Malvinas Trench by @schmidtocean.bsky.social.
12.01.2026 15:29 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Catching up on my @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive watching and WOW this habitat is stunning. This is from the Malvinas Trench during the Argentinian Deep Seeps expedition. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWEt... 🦑🌊🧪
12.01.2026 15:00 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Finally out! We studied the retinas of the longest-living vertebrate, the Greenland shark, and found that the retinas remain remarkably healthy in animals around 150 years old. What is the mechanism? It may be a highly efficient DNA repair system. Enjoy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love being a biologist, becuase it means at any moment your Instagram stories will have someone's beach pic followed by a photo of a half-digested vole extracted from roadkill as part of a diet study. Incredible, no notes.🧪🌍
09.01.2026 15:28 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Happening now on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCEB... 🦑🌊🧪🐟
16.12.2025 14:17 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Credits:
Anglerfish and brittle star: Schmidt Ocean Institute
Crab: Malcolm Clark, NIWA, NZ
Snailfish + jelly: Caladan Oceanic
A little bright spot for your day -- @deepstewardship.bsky.social has a collection of incredible deep sea photos collected from partners around the world. Here are a few, and see them all here: www.flickr.com/people/19477...
🦑🐟🌊🧪
Very cool new paper: Scientists observed a whiplash squid covering itself in mud, the first time this behavior has been documented for squid. They suspect the squid was arranging its tentacles to look like the stalks of a sponge or worm 🦑🌊🧪 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
04.12.2025 15:27 — 👍 19 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1
If you haven't see this incredible footage of a bigfin squid (Magnapinna) from @nautiluslive.org, stop what you're doing & watch! This was from last month's expedition exploring deep waters of the Cook Islands, spotted at 5,100 meters deep. 🌍🦑🌊🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UvS...
Meet the engineering team behind one of MBARI’s new underwater imaging systems 🤖🔧
Our scientists and engineers work side by side to develop cutting-edge tools that track ocean health in real time and help us visualize the ocean like never before.
Learn more: youtu.be/Kqo4MhthIkQ?...
Had a wonderful time during another @skypeascientist.bsky.social visit -- this time with 4th graders in a class in New Jersey! Sign up here if you're an educator or scientist interested in participating: www.skypeascientist.com 🧪🌊🍎
29.10.2025 19:14 — 👍 9 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
New paper by Wong et al.: The 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave had well-documented impacts on deep reef fish assemblages. ROV surveys from 2005-2021 showed changes in sessile invertebrate abundance during and after the heat wave. 🧪🦑🌊
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Very cool new paper alert! On a 2024 expedition off Chile, scientists saw tons of cusk eels hanging out among tubeworms! An interesting observation of how this species uses methane seeps as important habitat. 🐟🦑🧪🌊 Read the paper: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
23.10.2025 15:40 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 02763m A halosaur finally! I love their faces. @nautiluslive.org dive L1012 #CookIslands #MarineLife
20.10.2025 14:05 — 👍 29 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
Great drama happening on the Hudson Canyon livestream right now! Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n289... 🧪🦑🌊🌍
25.09.2025 14:48 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Excited to see @gardenandgun.com highlight the work of conservationists across the Southern U.S. + Bahamas in their Champions of Conservation feature. It showcases how conservation and recreation can work hand-in-hand for stronger, more lasting outcomes. 🐟🌍
gardenandgun.com/feature/cham...
What a cool graduate opportunity!! Dietary benefits of sexual cannibalism in spiders at Oklahoma State University. 🧪👩🔬🌍
sevenseasmedia.org/job/ms-or-ph...
A curious little guy! Spotted on @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream from 9/8: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivht... 🐟🦑🌊🌍
11.09.2025 13:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Catching up on my shows today @schmidtocean.bsky.social 🌊🦑🧪🐟🌍
09.09.2025 15:16 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Starting TODAY: Join scientists at sea to learn more about deep sea restoration in real time. Our fall livestream series features many opportunities to hear about ROVs, deep corals, and more. 🌊🦑🧪🐟
Learn more: oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/news/mdbc-li...
The bumpy snailfish, discovered 10,000 feet down off the coast of California, shows that not all denizens of the abyss are frightening. (I watched the video more than 10 times.)
My latest for @nytimes.com (gift link!)
#marinelife
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...
This deep-sea worm creates a toxic yellow pigment found in Rembrandt and Cézanne paintings!
Paralvinella hessleri is the first known animal to create orpiment, which was used by artists for centuries. 🦑🧪🌊
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Good news out of the Gulf -- A new project found that modified turtle excluder devices (TEDs) successfully excluded small turtles while maintaining shrimp catch. 🌊🦑🧪🌍
gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2025/07/smal...
Developed by researchers in MBARI’s Bioinspiration Lab, the EyeRIS camera system (right) enables near real-time three-dimensional imaging and visualization in a compact payload that can be deployed to depths of 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). Image credit: Joost Daniels, MBARI
It all started with a grand challenge: How can we unlock the potential for ocean life to inspire future technologies? @mbarinews.bsky.social's Bioinspiration Lab has spent years trying to tackle this problem, and we recently developed 4000 m-rated EyeRIS, an in situ lightfield imaging system. 2/n
07.08.2025 20:13 — 👍 10 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
