Swim, sea pig, swim!
@echinoblog.bsky.social says this smooth swimmer, fr #ArgentinianDeepSeeps (2864m) belongs to family Elpidiidae, genus Peniagone. The urchin is an Echinothurioid, aka pancake urchin, w/cute "booties" on their spines around the bottom fringe for "walking" on soft sediments.
This seafloor community, 1,073 meters (3,520 feet) beneath the Ocean surface, was filmed during the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition. Scientists were searching for cold seeps. While exploring, they observed beautiful scenes like this and stunning biodiversity along the country’s continental shelf.
“Like a firefly in the middle of a field
filled with noise,
its shining, latent light within,
a tiny bell, small and soundless.
I fade away so that you may lose yourself.
I fold myself into my wings.”
Poem by Pedro Serrano, trans. by Don Cellini.
Psychedelic jellyfish, #argentiniandeepseeps, 3804 m
Riding High!
During the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition, ROV pilots captured footage of a tiny animal, likely a crustacean, riding a jellyfish like a surfboard. Jellyfish = protection w/their stinging tentacles & access to food while traveling & “shooting the curl” (as surfers would say).
Skeleton shrimp: superior snackers
This amphipod in the family Caprellidae, has feather-like setae line several of their 18 appendages for collecting food — amphipod translates to “feet on all sides” in Greek.
#argentiniandeepseeps ~1200 meters
A fishy escape fr #ArgentinianDeepSeeps
"The question, O me! so sad, recurring — What good amid these, O me, O
life?
Answer.
That you are here — that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." - Walt Whitman
Two skate passing in the dark.
Between 200 and 145 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, these cartilaginous fish emerged — part of the class Chondrichthyes, which also includes sharks, stingrays, and chimaeras. ROV pilots filmed these at skate 432 meters during #ArgentinianDeepSeeps
Our final expedition video for #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition is out. During this successful bubble-hunting expedition, scientists not only found the bubbles but also myriad animals associated w/seeps: everything from giant coral reefs to gardens of sea pens.
youtu.be/09uSPqhm58I?...
What might it feel like to be a glass squid ...
to reach a state where your body’s density perfectly matches your surroundings?
#ArgentinianDeepSeeps
Float like a glass squid.
What might it feel like to reach a state where your body’s density perfectly matches your surroundings? Their buoyant bodies are filled with ammonium chloride, which is lighter than seawater, helping them to conserve energy while traveling. 1,729 m #ArgentinianDeepSeeps
Beautiful new footage from our friends and expedition partners @schmidtocean.bsky.social. Check out highlights of the marine life spotted on the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition.
The #ArgentinianDeepSeeps team completed 1st comprehensive study of Argentina’s cold seeps. Their goal: to understand how the animal communities live and interact with localized physical, geological, and chemical conditions as well as with surrounding deep-sea ecosystems.
youtu.be/KvJewhMvrIQ?...
Take a slow ride . . . by snail!
Read the full post about this example of mutualistic symbiosis and the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition here: www.instagram.com/reel/DTTbCSp...
Benthic ctenophores clinging to tunicates attached to a submarine canyon wall ~1.75 miles deep, during #ArgentinianDeepSeeps. Platyctenida have colloblasts, or sticky cells that release a mucus-like glue when they unspool extra-long tentacles into the water column and fish for their next meal.
They're heading up for recovery. That's the end of this expedition. The next one sets sail January 19th. Congrats everyone on board & on shore! Basket stars, crab, octopus. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
It had the perfect opportunity to punch that fish but chose peace. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Woohoo, an octopus before the end of expedition! Muusoctopus? @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Hey come back here, I just want to chat! Lobster chasing Moridae. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Crab legs for lunch it seems. Lobster eating the legs of another crustacean. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Damn!!! The fish got away, but not for lack of trying on the part of the lobster. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
It's the final dive (894) of the @schmidtocean.bsky.social expedition "Life on the Extremes". ROV Subastian is climbing up the wall of Malvinas Trough south of Falkland Islands till ~2pm CST. A very biodiverse dense ecosystem down there. #ArgentinianDeepSeeps
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OB...
Paragorgia retracting polyps. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
This is the final dive for this expedition. Here's images from the dive so far today. Apologies for not labeling. I am being lazy. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Hexapathes/Heteropathes collection from
@schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 894 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Not a clue what fish this is. Love the round face. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 893 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
@echinoblog.bsky.social another sea star looking like it is eating, but I don't see anything under it. I thought maybe another Psalidaster, but the arms look different to me. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 893 #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
@schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 893 is live! #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
www.youtube.com/live/uEI2b9P...
Isopods on a coral, sponges, & cup coral. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 892. #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
@echinoblog.bsky.social that's a beautiful sea star! Also crab and urchin. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 892. #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
Paragorgia, Brisingid, & Macrourid. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 892. #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife
