Cephstravanganza with Professor Kat Bolstad

Episode Summary

In our newest episode, we join roving reporter Kat Bolstad at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council in Okinawa and hear from some of the most interesting people in Cephalopod research.

Check out our lovely new website where you can find more detailed notes, images and links to the wider reading.

In this episode…

Welcome back to the Deep-Sea Podcast, your punk take on all things deep sea!

The Professor is still down under, organizing conferences and recuperating from Old Mate’s Classic Aussie Sausage Sizzle, a robust event filled with friends of the podcast and still felt 24 hours later.

Thom is freshly back from another big ocean/small boat adventure, in which the ocean always wins and his stomach always loses… everything. He is also stretching his creative muscles and curating an exciting new museum exhibit called Breathe | Mauri Ora at Te Papa, an examination of science into art by Marshmallow Lazer Feast.

Our episode this month is a fascinating collection of interviews from the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Meeting that took place Oct-Nov in Okinawa Japan. Join Kat Bolstad, our roving reporter, as she takes time between bug hunting, seeing her first wild cuttlefish and shaking hands with a new octopus friend to collect interviews with some of the coolest names in Ceph science with a focus on the deep-sea. We hear from 12 Cephalopod experts on a wide variety of topics, including the preferred snacks for cephalopods, the effects of oxygen depletion on egg hatching, water temperature and acidification effects on cephalopod populations, and of course, the correct answer to the viral question: are octopuses actually ALIENS?

In the news, get ready for updates on:

• Deep diving manta rays using the ocean bottom to navigate
• A newly launched AI tool to map the Deep- Sea
• Bright blue mud filled with fat molecules indicating life in the deep
• Corals and Crinoids sharing symbionts and cycling nitrogen
• And an update from the Unseen Ocean Collective about the work they are creating for a show in Juneau Alaska in 2026.

On the Discord, we’ve been busy with:

• Voting on the Holiday Party movie
• Started a long overdue ART channel, and a new Pets channel
• Photo tours of submersibles and Okinawa
• Early Holiday celebrations by one of our hosts
• Great feedback and conversation on our last episode.

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

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Reference list News

Deep-Sea News

World's largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans

China launches AI tool for deep-sea research

Fat Molecules in Deep-Sea Mud Volcanoes Reveal How Microbes Survive Extreme Conditions | Discover Magazine

Putative promiscuous symbionts in deep-sea corals and crinoids may contribute to nitrogen cycling | Microbiome

Unseen Ocean Collective

Unseen Ocean Collective.

Unseen Ocean Collective (@unseenoceancollective) • Instagram photos and videos

https://bsky.app/profile/unseenocean.bsky.social

Discord Updates

Holiday Party! Join Patreon here to get access to the Holiday party!

Interview Links

Kat’s Socials

Bluesky: @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

Sarah McAnulty

Skype a Scientist SkypeAScientist.com

Squidfacts.net

Kristina Fleetwood

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

Décima lab website

Meg Mindlin

Invertibabe

Toni’s socials

Twitter,

ResearchGate

ORCID

Toni’s Research Group

Funcionamiento y Vulnerabilidad de Ecosistemas Marinos | Institut de Ciències del Mar

Other Links Breathe | Mauri Ora | Te Papa

@Tailsfromthedeep

Global biodiversity of the genus Ommastrephes (Ommastrephidae: Cephalopoda): an allopatric cryptic species complex

Mitochondrial genome diversity and population structure of the giant squid Architeuthis

Spatial ecology of Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus in Mediterranean deep-water environments: implications for designing no-take marine reserves (MEPS)

Diel and seasonal patterns of Nephrops norvegicus (Decapoda: Nephropidae) catchability in the western Mediterranean

Antarctic octos as records and predictors of climate-related changes in the Antarctic “Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment“

Danna Staaf books

Cephalopod camouflage bibliography on Zotero

AUT Lab for Cephalopod Ecology & Systematics aka AUT ‘Squid Squad’

Cephalopod Images and Footage

Keishu Asada Instagram

CIAC 2025 website, programme, book of abstracts

https://www.ryo-minemizu.com/

Keishu Asada Marine Videos

Keishu Asada Instagram

@PeterandtheOctopus

Credits

Song of the month: Tornado of Souls, by Megadeth, performed by medium-sized Jamieson.

Logo image: Photo credit to Peter Morse @PeterAndTheOctopus

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel