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Schmidt Ocean Institute
@schmidtocean.bsky.social
Boldly exploring our unknown Ocean
This fluttery finned fish, possibly from the family Oreosomatidae, was spotted during #AsgardArchaea at around 1000 m. Read more about this expedition led by @archaeal.bsky.social from @texasscience.bsky.social here: https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/searching-for-the-asgard/
November 22, 2025 at 12:34 AM
#AsgardArchaea team, led by @archaeal.bsky.social fr @texasscience.bsky.social — sequencing the DNA collected fr mouth of Rio de la Plata to the continental shelf of Uruguay to detect Asgards, a group of single-celled organisms & our closest microbial relatives on the tree of life. bit.ly/3MdniTH
November 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Schmidt Ocean Institute
Stormy waters have cleared. Winds and light. Currents moderate. Live streaming from 850m. Collecting push cores.
November 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Following a 2021 expedition on R/V Falkor, scientists share findings connected to the toxic legacy of once-legal ocean dumping off the coast of Southern California. Register & join us: https://schmidtocean-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bGCuKTmDSrGydYHaoYFbuw#/registration
November 17, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Schmidt Ocean Institute
November 17, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Schmidt Ocean Institute
November 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Skating into the weekend . . . like a cartilaginous fish! Related to sharks w/wings for hovering & flying over the seafloor & a long, whiplike tail for steering. We see them during ROV dives, burrowed into the sediment, utterly still until they can ambush their next meal.

235m #Taleof2Canyons
November 14, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This is a sea cucumber eating. This #Taleof2Canyons mealtime footage, collected by ROV pilots at a depth of 142m, offers a perfect illustration of suspension feeding (sped up 5x). The sea cucumber stretches feathery tentacles up into the current to capture their meal.
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Monday mayhem!

We've never seen a scallop crash into an anemone riding a snail through a seafloor field of brittle stars either — but hey, you explore to see something new, right?!

ROV footage from #Ecosde2Cañones expedition along the Patagonian shelf break.
November 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
During a 2021 expedition, scientists explored an offshore dumpsite, where barrels of toxic byproducts of the insecticide DDT were dumped between 1947 & 1972. Join us for a discussion w/ expedition scientists. Register now: https://schmidtocean-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bGCuKTmDSrGydYHaoYFbuw
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
On 21 Nov. 2025, join us for a @schmidtocean.bsky.social Back Ashore webinar w/ Johanna Gutleben, Paul Jensen & Lihini Aluwihare from @scrippsocean.bsky.social, who will share findings from the 2021 #BiodiverseBorderlands expedition. Register now: schmidtocean-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
#Ecosde2Cañones sea life & fish w/antifreeze proteins! “It was wonderful to see the notothenioid fish curiously approach the ROV camera, reminding us that every encounter with marine life is deeply connected to the physical dynamics shaping their environment.” - Chief Scientist Dr. Silvia Romero
November 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Schmidt Ocean Institute
30 previously unknown deep-sea species, including a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge, have been confirmed from one of the most remote parts of the planet by The Nippon Foundation–Nekton @oceancensus.bsky.social and collaborators. ecomagazine.com/news/researc...
🦑 🌊
Recent Expeditions Confirm Discovery of 30 Previously Unknown Deep-Sea Species - environment coastal & offshore
Thirty previously unknown deep-sea species, including a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge, have been confirmed from one of the most remote parts of the planet by The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Censu...
ecomagazine.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:32 PM
A swingin’ seafloor hotspot! 🎶
This #Ecosde2Cañones footage fr the Patagonian shelf break is an excellent example of collective foraging behavior. Fish & other creatures navigate deep-sea currents to access an area rich w/nutrients — these vital energy hubs at the interface of shelf & open Ocean.
November 5, 2025 at 5:54 PM
A #Taleof2Canyons & an octopus! 186m, Patagonian red octopus, or Enteroctopus megalocyathus, hovering over a patch of sediment, lighter in color than the surrounding area, the cephalopod opened up like an umbrella to feed, likely on a crustacean. Read more: www.instagram.com/reel/DQnH14c...
November 3, 2025 at 11:09 PM
We asked how the urchins "dressed" themselves. @echinoblog.bsky.social writes, "Is the urchin doing it, or have the tunicates somehow affixed themselves? It's possible that, for some reason, the urchins are using their tube feet and/or pedicellariae to adhere the tunicates."
November 3, 2025 at 5:02 PM
World Ocean Explorer has been invited to present from the main stage at the Unity Technologies annual conference, 17 -20 November 2025. Learn more: https://unity.com/events/unite
November 1, 2025 at 4:00 AM
BOO! 👻🎃👻

No costume for Halloween? No problem. Channel your inner sea urchin: go into your closet (or sunken treasure chest), and throw on all the outfits at once! A few clams, some snails, and carnivorous sponges for drama ought to help keep your fellow partiers in high spirits.

#Ecosde2Cañones
October 31, 2025 at 6:31 PM
At the 57th Barcolana regatta, @wendyschmidt.bsky.social, @schmidtocean.bsky.social & @11thhourracing.bsky.social partnered with w/Italian event agency Piano b to create a short film, told from the Ocean's perspective & viewed in the Piazza Unità d’Italia. youtu.be/BtbqxEHk-jM
An Ocean’s Song | Barcolana 2025 (English)
YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The #Ecosde2Cañones team collected oceanographic data to better understand how the shape of the seafloor & powerful currents influence productivity in Argentina; they will return home w/new questions & the memory of seeing life pulsing through these canyons.

youtu.be/LLTMc704rVA?...
Complexity in Nature | A Tale of Two Canyons
YouTube video by Schmidt Ocean
youtu.be
October 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Schmidt Ocean Institute
A little terror for your Tuesday!

Basket star filmed by ROV pilots at ~270 m during the #Taleof2Canyons — these many-armed ophiuroids capture prey w/ease. Escape is unlikely thanks to tiny hooks & sticky mucus-covered limbs. Once ensnared, tube feet shuttle the meal towards the animal’s mouth.
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Yes, filmed by our Remotely Operated Vehicle SuBastian — at 324 meters during our Tale of Two Canyons expedition in Argentina. 🌊 schmidtocean.org/cruise/a-tal...
A Tale of Two Submarine Canyons - Schmidt Ocean Institute
The Malvinas Current offshore of Argentina — a branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current — carries nutrients and cold water from the south, boosting primary productivity in the Southwest Atlantic Oc...
schmidtocean.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:35 PM
...like water or glass that turns into anything,
into smoke, into a spiral,
into a building, a fish, a stone, a rose.
I am different from me, so different...

“Song” by Poet Silvina Ocampo, transl. by Jason Weiss; full poem: granta.com/song/

#Ecosde2CañonesSouth, American sea nettle, 324m
October 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
@schmidtocean.bsky.social is thrilled to sponsor Ocean Floor Explore — a #MapTheGaps Symposium to build new pathways for seafloor mapping and deep ocean discovery. Join us October 26-29 and be part of the last great exploration on Earth. Learn more at oceanfloorexplore.org
October 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM