The Deco-Stop – 001: Parents at sea with Kat Bolstad, deepest lactating human

Here’s our first ever episode of The Deco-Stop; a deeper look into the humans behind deep sea science and technology. We’ve done our science dive, and now it’s time to decompress, and discuss tales at sea, career paths and the social & political aspects of deep sea science.

Read the show notes and find the full episode here:

https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast/deco-stop-001

In our first ever episode, we talk to Kat Bolstad, the leader of the AUT lab for cephalopod ecology and systematics (ALCES) at Auckland University in New Zealand.

We talk about squid Christmas, chasing the colossal squid, Kat’s career journey and her truly incredible record of being the deepest lactating human (we think). She also tells us how she once made a liar out of Sir David Attenborough. We’re so excited about creating this space to talk more about the human aspects of deep-sea science, and would love to hear from you about your deep-sea journey!

Check out our podcast merch! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron.

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

Glossary

Architeuthis - The latin name for the giant squid.

Cephalopod - A class of molluscs which contains squids, octopus, nautilus and vampire squid.

Colossal squid - Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, a species of deep-sea squid believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass.

Genetic Taxonomy - The classification and gathering of organisms into groups based on genetic similarity.

Giant squid - A species of gigantic deep sea squid which can grow to 10-12m long at maximum size.

Kondakovia - A species of deep-sea squid, which has now been reclassified as Moroteuthopsis.

Morphological Taxonomy - The classification and gathering of organisms into groups based on morphological similarities (similar physical features).

Moroteuthopsis - A species of deep-sea squid which was previously known as Kondakovia.

Octonauts - A children's TV programme which follows a group of underwater explorers.

Ommastrephes bartramii - The ‘neon flying squid’, a species of squid commonly fished in the North Pacific.

Links

Kat’s Research Lab - AUT Lab for Cephalopod Ecology and Systematics (ALCES)

Website

Twitter

Kat’s appearance in the NHK documentary series: Deep Ocean

S1. E4: Giants of the Antarctic Deep

Kat’s paper on the renaming of Kondakovia to Moroteuthopsis.

Kat’s paper on the distribution and biology of the colossal squid

Kat’s book chapter on The Study of Deep Sea Cephalopods

Kat’s paper on Moroteuthopsis diet—the one that ate a Bathyteuthis

‘Squid cube’

Credits

Theme – Hometime by Harvey Jones

Logo image - The Deco-Stop