Deep-water corals with Di Tracey

With Dr Thom and The Professor busy prepping for their upcoming expeditions offshore, we had time to squeeze out one more episode before they set sail.

We caught up with the legendary Di Tracey from NIWA to talk all things deep-water corals. How they live, what makes them different from their shallow water relatives, and how they are adapted to life in the deep dark ocean. Di's long career in deep-sea ecology is also intertwined with her extensive work in making the marine sciences a better place for women to work. She talks us through what it was like to begin her career offshore, often being the only woman on board, and how she helped change the industry for the better.

In the news this week we have a few exciting new updates. We can indeed confirm that as of our last episode where we spoke about the vulnerability of subsea cables, there were multiple apparent attacks and cables were cut. We can only assume that hostile nations do indeed listen to the deep-sea podcast (thanks for subscribing!).

Andrew is back from his stint offshore and he is chock-full of stories for us. Brand new dragonfish species, near-misses with box jellyfish and also some cookie-cutter sharks. It's all happening!

We’re really trying to make this project self-sustaining so we have started looking for ways to support the podcast. Here’s a link to our page on how to support us, from the free options to becoming a patron of the show. We want to say a huge thank you to those patrons who have already pledged to support us:

Christian Nilsson | Mol Mir

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

Check out our podcast merch here! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron and a much anticipated new design...

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic

Bluesky: @@deepseapodcast.bsky.social

Keep up with the team on social media

Twitter:

Alan - @Hadalbloke (https://twitter.com/Hadalbloke)

Thom - @ThomLinley (https://twitter.com/ThomLinley)

Georgia - @geeinthesea (https://twitter.com/geeinthesea)

Instagram:

Georgia - @geeinthesea (https://www.instagram.com/geeinthesea/)

Thom - @thom.linley (https://www.instagram.com/thom.linley/)

Or Bluesky:

Thom: https://bsky.app/profile/deepseapod.com

Read the show notes and find out more about us at:

www.armatusoceanic.com

Links

Subsea cables: update - cables cut

China's new cable laying technology

New squid just dropped!

Upside-down anglerfish footage

Deep warm corals

Mol mir's art

Song of the month

The Weakerthans - Sun in an Empty Room.

Spotify

Youtube

--------------------------------------------------------- Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image - Ocean Exploration Trust

Edited by - Georgia Wells

Glossary

Aotearoa - The Māori-language name for New Zealand Te reo Māori - The Polynesian language of the Māori. Treaty of Waitangi (or Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Māori) - A key founding document of New Zealand signed in 1840 by the British Crown and Māori chiefs, and established British sovereignty over New Zealand while granting Māori rights to their land and interests. Tangata whenua - A Māori phrase that means "people of the land". It refers to the indigenous Māori people of a specific area or the country as a whole. Tangata Tiriti - A Māori phrase that refers to non-Māori people who belong to Aotearoa by right of the Treaty of Waitangi. Oocyte - A developing egg. Spermatocyte - A developing sperm cell. Scleractinia - Or ‘Stony corals’. A type of corals with hard skeletons made of calcium carbonate. They are often reef-like. Bamboo corals - Corals that make their skeletons from a mixture of calcium carbonate and gorgonian. Black corals - Chitinous corals, can be faster growing than the other two groups.