Craig R. McClain | Lightnews

Dr Craig R McClain

@drcraigmc.bsky.social

10K followers 2.3K following 1.6K posts

Marine Ecologist, Deep-Sea Explorer, Climate Change Researcher, Science Communicator, Ed @deepseanews

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Environmental science 55%

Geography 19%

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Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · Jun 24

I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science

Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM

From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...

journals.plos.org

Reposted by Craig R. McClain

Coral City Camera @coralcitycamera.bsky.social · 15h

Smiley for the win!!! #spottedeagleray #eagleray #smiley #remora #remorahat #ftw #stingraysofcoralcity #coralcity #coralcitycamera #miami #coral #portmiami #biscaynebay

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 16h

Although you seem to be a bit more in the the thick of it!

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 16h

I think I'm a little concerned (if I am reading this right) about how segregated academic ecology/conservation is from the rest of the Bluesky landscape.

Reposted by Craig R. McClain

Robert Boessenecker, Dr. of Whaleontology ™️ @coastalpaleo.bsky.social · 16h

Some more commensal brittle stars (Ophiothela mirabilis) on a purple octocoral (Leptogorgia rigida). Playa Balandra, La Paz, Baja California. 🦀🦑 #baja #tidepool #echinoderm

A yellow brittle star with six arms on a purple branching soft coral.

A yellow brittle star with six arms on a purple branching soft coral; the yellow arms wrap around the branches like snakes.

Several yellow brittle stars on a purple branching soft coral.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 3d

Today for our lab meeting we are reading about dolphin falls and I'll admit I'm. sucker for a good photo mosaic #marinelife www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 3d

A genuinely informative watch. @drandrewthaler.bsky.social continues to be one of the clearest, strongest voices advocating for the deep sea and sound science.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 3d

Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...

Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

www.youtube.com

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 3d

Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLY2...

Maxine Dexter Decries 'Concerning Lack Of Transparency' In Deep Sea Mining Permitting Process

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Craig R. McClain

MBARI @mbarinews.bsky.social · 5d

Dragon in the deep. 🐉⁠
⁠
Dragonfish (family Stomiidae) are cunning predators. Although they are strong swimmers, they prefer to lie in wait and ambush unsuspecting fishes and crustaceans. This black dragonfish (Idiacanthus sp.) was spotted at 527 meters (1,729 feet) in Monterey Bay.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

Collections like these aren’t dusty archives. They are active infrastructure for science. Every jar is a data point across time, space, and extinction risk. Without collections, we lose our ability to ask new questions about the oceans.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

8/ Ended with a nerd bucket list item, Holopus crinoids which look like meaty little fist. Been fascinated with them since @echinoblog.bsky.social wrote about them years ago echinoblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/crin...

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

7/ Started with a lineup of sea urchins armed with the most gnarly spines imaginable. Equal parts elegant and threatening. Evolution does not mess around.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

6/ Also: a jar holding tens of thousands of brittle stars. Not hyperbole. Just a quiet reminder of how abundant some deep-sea life can be when conditions line up.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

5/ One specimen really stuck with me: a seastar from ~8,000 meters depth. That’s pressure most engineering materials struggle with. This thing just exists there.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

4/ Saw both extremes of the seastar world today: some of the largest species ever described and some so small they feel unreal in a jar. Scale in the oceans is wild.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

3/ Learned that some starfish are nearly paper thin and live flattened against gravel. My mind is still blown by these guys.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

2/ Got an incredible behind-the-scenes tour of the echinoderm collection with Dr. Hugh Carter whose recent Nature Ecology & Evolution paper is a must-read for anyone thinking about deep-biodiversity www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deep-sea-floor diversity in Asteroidea is shaped by competing processes across different latitudes and oceans - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Global trends in species richness in the deep sea are poorly explored. This study uses occurrence records of Asteroidea to show that species richness in the deep benthos is restricted below ~1.5 °C bu...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 5d

Visited the Natural History Museum London last week and honestly: collections like this are the backbone of everything we think we know about the ocean. Absolute treasure trove.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 11d

The mammal hall at @nhm-london.bsky.social gives a wonderful example of the scale of life. Here a full size elephant display is against a back drop of a replica full size blue whale. The blue whale is so large I cannot even fit it into the frame.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 11d

Got to see two bucket item animals today at the @nhm-london.bsky.social the extinct dodo and ivory-billed woodpecker

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 11d

Need to up my deep-sea display collection in my lab, look at this amazing specimens in the Glover lab.

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 11d

Having a great week in the UK. First part with @tomjwebb.bsky.social continuing collaboration and then second half at @nhm-london.bsky.social with Adrian Glover

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 13d

Yeti crabs are the absolute best. Did the Wiki article mention the Hoff crab? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

David Hasselhoff crabs: Males have bigger claws to fight for mate

The Hoff crab's nickname comes from its hairy chest, prompting comparisons with the Baywatch star.

www.bbc.co.uk

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 13d

📷 from @mbarinews.bsky.social @smithsonianmag.bsky.social @oceanconservancy.org

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 13d

Today I feel like going with deep-sea textures. How about bumpy (bumpy snailfish) + gelatinous (sea slug) + spiny (spiny king crab) + fuzzy (yeti crab) #marinelife

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 13d

Can’t wait to read this paper coauthored by @sethf.bsky.social

Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 13d

Interesting article exploring the role of the shapes of paleogeographies of coastlines as determinants of the extinction risk:
"Taxa...that occur along east-west– oriented coastlines, islands, or inland seaways—consistently exhibit higher extinction risk"
www.science.org/doi/full/10....
🧪⚒️ #Paleobio