ALCES (AUT Squid Squad)

We are the AUT Lab for Cephalopod Ecology and Systematics, devoted to studying cephalopod biology, especially deep-sea squids.

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

We're also now on #BlueskySocial

https://t.co/aZXGL7uFR0 🦑🐙

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

#ColossalSquid has been filmed in its natural habitat for the first time!
Filmed in #Antarctica by @SchmidtOcean, we just had a press conference to share the news. @ALCESonline provides the voiceover and context for the video. https://t.co/G8Y0ZV0Mcc

@Te_Papa
@PureOceanFund

[The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand @ConversationEDU]

The first confirmed footage of a juvenile colossal squid in its natural habitat shows a delicate and graceful animal - far from the "monster" narrative we see all too often. @ALCESonline @AUTuni https://t.co/JZShThAYhd

[The Deep-Sea Podcast @DeepSeaPod]

Our beloved #Blobfish has been voted the #NZFishoftheYear! Second place went to the #OrangeRoughy, proving people love the #deepsea.

Check out our #CoffeeWithAndrew episode about the origin of that iconic image.

https://t.co/b4UXg4NE81

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

A huge thanks to @Intrepid_Travel for having me and @ALCESonline aboard to deploy our #ProjectESCA #squid lure in #Antartica.

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

Happy birthday colossal squid! The species was described in 1925 so @ThomLinley and I did a centenary episode on @DeepSeaPod - https://t.co/cSUpRpqKxy 🦑🎉
Gorgeous artwork courtesy of Gareth, a guest on our recent #Antarctic voyage with @Intrepid_Travel for #ProjectESCA

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

A nice side effect of joining @Intrepid_Travel is great #scicomm - talks and updates on #ProjectESCA and #colossalsquid. Loving the guest engagement and even #fanart! Last night they were even on the @DeepSeaPod.

@ALCESonline
@PureOceanFund
@Te_Papa
@AutScience

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

Master Squidcrafter Heather has been at it again. Not sure @Intrepid_Travel realized just what they were in for by having the #ProjectESCA team aboard--we brought a rather large stowaway!
#colossalsquid

@ThomLinley
@PureOceanFund
@Te_Papa
@AutScience

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

We have arrived at the #7thContinent on our #ColossalSquid quest and are deploying our #ProjectESCA camera from the Ocean Endeavour. A big thanks to those who got @ALCESonline and me here: @PureOceanFund, @Te_Papa, @AutScience and @Intrepid_Travel

#Antarctica
#deepsea

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

It's happening! @ALCESonline and I are out with @Intrepid_Travel deploying #ProjectESCA in search of the #ColossalSquid.
Supported by @PureOceanFund, @Te_Papa and @AutScience, we have developed a suitcase-sized light lure and camera system.

#deepsea
#deepocean
#Antarctica

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

@jestkelly @Rhinobatos_sp Beautiful! Looks like a young Onykia

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

We're off! Setting sail for Antarctica to chase some squids with the #ProjectESCA camera system and @ThomLinley, thanks to @PureOceanFund and @Intrepid_Travel . Bring me that horizon!

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

Good thing the ones I'm after aren't usually at the beach! Beagle Channel / Tierra del Fuego National Park. (Could I pick up an urchin test or crab moult though?)

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

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

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

@jestkelly @7segLED Heather thinks probably Mastigotragus pyrodes or Magnoteuthis microlucens--both known from North Pacific and the arms/tentacles/fins are about right. Both should have ventral photophores but can't tell size from this clip (microscopic in M. microlucens). Great footage!

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

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

@ThomLinley
@Te_Papa
@SchmidtOcean
@PureOceanFund

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

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

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

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

@ALCESonline
@Te_Papa
@SchmidtOcean
@PureOceanFund

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

https://t.co/J4QBaJHmRn

A feel for #AntarcticClimateConnections and why this project's important.

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

@Brachioteuthis @cefafalopodo @jestkelly Antarctic glacial squid, Psychroteuthis glacialis. Other option is Filippovia but one of your later frames shows the clubs better and it's Psychro :)

[Dr Thom @ThomLinley]

I hope our lure attracts squi...

THUNK!

#ProjectESCA works! Squid like the lure and a 360 camera means nowhere to hide.
Likely a glacial or clubhook #squid, this is 200m in #Antarctica

#AntarcticClimateConnections

@ALCESonline
@SchmidtOcean
@Te_Papa
@PureOceanFund

[ALCES (AUT Squid Squad) @ALCESonline]

@cefafalopodo @jestkelly @Slyp9GD8aabtzMD @squid_rui @jeffday No they're quite new, still working through a collection of tissues. Indian Ocean (not surprising)