The day before heading out to #Antarctica to look for the #colossalsquid with our low-light/far-red camera, I caught the #IronLungMovie and loved it.

Now I'm in an inhospitable environment looking for monsters in an ocean of blood 😐.

#ProjectESCA #ironlung #deepsea

A new record for #projectESCA, down to 700 m deep from a Zodiac using a pot-hauler and a battery.

This project is the embodiment of #number8wire.

@pure-ocean.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social #Antarctic #Antarctica #RossSea

A small x-bow expedition vessel in port in Otepoti Dunedin, awaiting its next adventure

After an epic weekend of rounding up the final gear for #ProjectESCA season 2, @thomaslinley.com and I join Aurora Expeditions' MV Douglas Mawson today to start our next Antarctic squidchasing adventure!

#ProjectESCA has arrived in Dunedin to make final preparations before we sail out for Antarctica on Monday to go squidchasing. @thomaslinley.com and I are hoping this is a good omen...

The #ProjectESCA team flank a life-sized plush colossal squid on a sofa in a ship lounge. A mysterious cardboard hammerhead shark hat lurks behind

T -5 days to the next voyage! Want to know the story of #ProjectESCA? @thomaslinley.com and I chatted about how we got here on the @deepseapod.com in honor of the colossal squid's 100th birthday www.deepseapod.com/episodes/056...

Art stamp on watercolor: two large squid form a circle surrounding the ESCA camera system logo

Welcome to #ProjectESCA season 2! A week from tomorrow, @thomaslinley.com of the @deepseapod.com & I sail for Antarctica for 5 weeks with Aurora Expeditions, with our deep-sea camera system and a few new toys as well. With a little luck, we'll have some exciting to stories to share; stay tuned!

A huge thanks to #IntrepidTravel for having me and @autsquidsquad.bsky.social aboard to deploy our #ProjectESCA #squid lure in #Antartica.

Black-and-white ink drawing of a colossal squid holding a birthday cake

Happy bday colossal squid! The species was described in 1925 so @deepseapod.com & I did a centenary episode on the @deepseapodcast.bsky.social - www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/056-... 🦑🎉
Gorgeous artwork thanks to Gareth, a guest on our recent #Antarctic voyage with #IntrepidTravel for #ProjectESCA

Kat Bolstad gives a lecture in the lounge aboard the Ocean Endeavour. A life-sized plush colossal squid joins her on stage.

Some of the fan art we have gotten from guests. Drawings and stories about squid and fish.

Thom Linley gives a lecture in the lounge aboard the Ocean Endeavour.

A nice side effect of joining #IntrepidTravel is the chance for #scicomm - talks on #ProjectESCA & #colossalsquid.
Loving the guest engagement and #fanart! Last night they were on the @deepseapodcast.bsky.social

@autsquidsquad.bsky.social
@pure-ocean.bsky.social
#Te_Papa
@autnews.bsky.social

Two scientists and a full-sized stuffed colossal squid on a couch aboard a ship

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

@deepseapod.bsky.social
@pure-ocean.bsky.social
@AUTnews.bsky.social

#Antarctica
#deepsea

Wishing our lovely cephalopod professionals the best of luck as they search for the colossal squid! Looking forward to seeing the footage that you both will get with #ProjectESCA!

Thom Linley and Kat Bolstad stand in front of an open hatch in safety gear. The ocean and icebergs are visible through it.

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

#deepsea
#deepocean
#Antarctica

A ship's bow sailing out of the Beagle Channel under moody clouds

We're off! Setting sail for Antarctica to chase some squids with the #ProjectESCA camera system and @deepseapod.com, thanks to @pureocean.bsky.social and Intrepid Travel. Bring me that horizon!

Large mural of marine life including mammals, octopus and a sea star

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

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
#PureOceanFund
@schmidtocean.bsky.social
@deepseapod.com

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

A blob of blue-green light against a black background.

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
#PureOceanFund

@schmidtocean.bsky.social
@autsquidsquad.bsky.social

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
#SchmidtOcean
#PureOceanFund
#Te_Papa

@autsquidsquad.bsky.social

The new camera system @deepseapodcast.bsky.social and I have rigged up for #ProjectESCA is capturing some cool stuff on its maiden voyage in Antarctica, including this little firework of startled bioluminescence

#PureOceanFund
@autnews.bsky.social

#bioluminescent #fireworks

#ProjectESCA is very light-sensitive, even detecting flashes from tiny organisms!

Something crashes, letting out a bio-firework in surprise!

#AntarcticClimateConnections
#Challenger150
@autsquidsquad.bsky.social
#PureOceanFund

Scientists peer into clear containers filled with deep sea animals

A clear container housing a crinoid. A feathery relative of starfish

A frenzy of activity as immaculate specimens arrive. The #crinoid is a filter feeding starfish relative.

#AntarcticClimateConnections is sampling seabed previously covered in ice that has no associated data; biological, geological, oceanographic, mapping... nada!

#Challenger150 #projectESCA

Large, deep-sea squids tend to be camera shy so if we want to see them we have to get creative... so @deepseapod.com & I made A Thing and now we're off to Antarctica to see whether anyone comes to take a look! Huge thanks to @PureOceanFund for the support; stay tuned! #ProjectESCA

#ProjectESCA lives! @autsquidsquad.bsky.social
and I developed this novel light lure with support from the #PureOceanFund. It uses illumination invisible to the animals, a 360-degree camera, and simulated #bioluminescence to attract #deepsea animals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8PU...

Another amazing day on the water yesterday testing #projectESCA with Otago Uni's MMRG, recording #SpermWhales. More #deepsea #whales so I'll allow it. Huge thanks to the wonderful team who took us along. Sorry I was sick all down your hull :-/

Amazing day on the water yesterday while @autsquidsquad.bsky.social and I were testing #projectESCA with Otago Uni's MMRG. #BeakedWhales right alongside! These #deepsea #whales are such a rare sight.