Erin Spencer, PhD
@etspencer.bsky.social
Marine ecologist, science writer, lover of all things weird in the ocean.
Currently: Comms around mesophotic & deep restoration in the Gulf.
Order The Incredible Octopus now: https://tinyurl.com/66s9xj2p
Currently: Comms around mesophotic & deep restoration in the Gulf.
Order The Incredible Octopus now: https://tinyurl.com/66s9xj2p
Had a wonderful time during another @skypeascientist.bsky.social visit -- this time with 4th graders in a class in New Jersey! Sign up here if you're an educator or scientist interested in participating: www.skypeascientist.com 🧪🌊🍎
October 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Had a wonderful time during another @skypeascientist.bsky.social visit -- this time with 4th graders in a class in New Jersey! Sign up here if you're an educator or scientist interested in participating: www.skypeascientist.com 🧪🌊🍎
Very cool new paper alert! On a 2024 expedition off Chile, scientists saw tons of cusk eels hanging out among tubeworms! An interesting observation of how this species uses methane seeps as important habitat. 🐟🦑🧪🌊 Read the paper: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
October 23, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Very cool new paper alert! On a 2024 expedition off Chile, scientists saw tons of cusk eels hanging out among tubeworms! An interesting observation of how this species uses methane seeps as important habitat. 🐟🦑🧪🌊 Read the paper: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Great drama happening on the Hudson Canyon livestream right now! Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n289... 🧪🦑🌊🌍
September 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Great drama happening on the Hudson Canyon livestream right now! Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n289... 🧪🦑🌊🌍
A curious little guy! Spotted on @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream from 9/8: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivht... 🐟🦑🌊🌍
September 11, 2025 at 1:29 PM
A curious little guy! Spotted on @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream from 9/8: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivht... 🐟🦑🌊🌍
Catching up on my shows today @schmidtocean.bsky.social 🌊🦑🧪🐟🌍
September 9, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Catching up on my shows today @schmidtocean.bsky.social 🌊🦑🧪🐟🌍
This deep-sea worm creates a toxic yellow pigment found in Rembrandt and Cézanne paintings!
Paralvinella hessleri is the first known animal to create orpiment, which was used by artists for centuries. 🦑🧪🌊
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Paralvinella hessleri is the first known animal to create orpiment, which was used by artists for centuries. 🦑🧪🌊
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
September 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
This deep-sea worm creates a toxic yellow pigment found in Rembrandt and Cézanne paintings!
Paralvinella hessleri is the first known animal to create orpiment, which was used by artists for centuries. 🦑🧪🌊
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Paralvinella hessleri is the first known animal to create orpiment, which was used by artists for centuries. 🦑🧪🌊
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Deep-sea livestreams can inspire wonder and drive action. @schmidtocean.bsky.social's current expedition in Mar del Plata canyon, off the Argentine coast, has become an internet sensation -- just as Argentina’s president threatens to cut and privatize science. 🦑🌊🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/w...
August 11, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Deep-sea livestreams can inspire wonder and drive action. @schmidtocean.bsky.social's current expedition in Mar del Plata canyon, off the Argentine coast, has become an internet sensation -- just as Argentina’s president threatens to cut and privatize science. 🦑🌊🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/w...
Unreal images from the hadal zone, the deepest part of our ocean, in this new paper in @nature.com. Scientists used the manned submersible Fendouzhe in the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the western Aleutian Trench at depths from 5,800 m to 9,533 m 🦑🌊🧪🐟🌍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 31, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Unreal images from the hadal zone, the deepest part of our ocean, in this new paper in @nature.com. Scientists used the manned submersible Fendouzhe in the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench and the western Aleutian Trench at depths from 5,800 m to 9,533 m 🦑🌊🧪🐟🌍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Look at the detail on this STUNNER from yesterdays @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive in Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon in Argentina 🦑🌊🧪🐟
July 31, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Look at the detail on this STUNNER from yesterdays @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive in Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon in Argentina 🦑🌊🧪🐟
Spotted on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream! Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg9N... 🦑🌊🧪
July 30, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Spotted on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream! Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg9N... 🦑🌊🧪
Spotted!! This stunner
🐟🦑🧪🌊🌍
🐟🦑🧪🌊🌍
July 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Spotted!! This stunner
🐟🦑🧪🌊🌍
🐟🦑🧪🌊🌍
Awesome new paper on deep-sea coral community structure within California national marine sanctuaries (feat. some gorgeous coral photos) 🦑🌊🧪🌍
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
June 30, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Awesome new paper on deep-sea coral community structure within California national marine sanctuaries (feat. some gorgeous coral photos) 🦑🌊🧪🌍
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Our model supports that it’s beneficial for great hammerheads to eat other sharks in south Florida, especially when there are a lot of blacktips around! The energetic advantage gained by eating large prey may explain why great hammerheads eat prey 25% + of their own body mass. (3/4) 🦑🧪🌊🐟
June 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Our model supports that it’s beneficial for great hammerheads to eat other sharks in south Florida, especially when there are a lot of blacktips around! The energetic advantage gained by eating large prey may explain why great hammerheads eat prey 25% + of their own body mass. (3/4) 🦑🧪🌊🐟
We combined biologging data w/ biomechanical models to estimate how many calories great hammerheads burn in a day & how much they need to eat to sustain it. We then used a foraging model to see how energetic state changes when it hunts & eats blacktips compared to small fish. (2/4) 🦑🧪🌊🐟
June 27, 2025 at 12:56 PM
We combined biologging data w/ biomechanical models to estimate how many calories great hammerheads burn in a day & how much they need to eat to sustain it. We then used a foraging model to see how energetic state changes when it hunts & eats blacktips compared to small fish. (2/4) 🦑🧪🌊🐟
Proud to share that my second dissertation chapter is now published in Oecologia! Great hammerheads often eat other elasmobranchs, which suggests there must be some kind of advantage to going after big prey instead of smaller fish. (1/4)🦑🧪🌊🐟
June 27, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Proud to share that my second dissertation chapter is now published in Oecologia! Great hammerheads often eat other elasmobranchs, which suggests there must be some kind of advantage to going after big prey instead of smaller fish. (1/4)🦑🧪🌊🐟
Absolutely stunning video of a Antarctic gonate squid captured during an expedition aboard the R/V Falkor (Too). It's never been seen alive before! Read more in the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/s...
Video: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute, courtesy of National Geographic 🦑🌊🧪
Video: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute, courtesy of National Geographic 🦑🌊🧪
June 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Absolutely stunning video of a Antarctic gonate squid captured during an expedition aboard the R/V Falkor (Too). It's never been seen alive before! Read more in the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/s...
Video: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute, courtesy of National Geographic 🦑🌊🧪
Video: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute, courtesy of National Geographic 🦑🌊🧪
Join restoration experts LIVE from the Smithsonian on 6/2 at 2 pm EDT! Get a behind-the-scenes look at the museum’s collections, and learn more about how they support deep sea restoration in the Gulf. 🦑🌊🧪🐟🌍
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6elN...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6elN...
May 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Join restoration experts LIVE from the Smithsonian on 6/2 at 2 pm EDT! Get a behind-the-scenes look at the museum’s collections, and learn more about how they support deep sea restoration in the Gulf. 🦑🌊🧪🐟🌍
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6elN...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6elN...
The supergiant amphipod Alicella gigantea may inhabit over half of the world’s oceans: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🦑🌊🧪
May 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
The supergiant amphipod Alicella gigantea may inhabit over half of the world’s oceans: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🦑🌊🧪
Last week, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries livestreamed ROV dives on a never-before-seen shipwreck in Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary.
See the livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8na...
Join the next round on May 28 at 1 pm EST: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweG... 🦑🌊🐟🧪
See the livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8na...
Join the next round on May 28 at 1 pm EST: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweG... 🦑🌊🐟🧪
May 27, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Last week, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries livestreamed ROV dives on a never-before-seen shipwreck in Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary.
See the livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8na...
Join the next round on May 28 at 1 pm EST: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweG... 🦑🌊🐟🧪
See the livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8na...
Join the next round on May 28 at 1 pm EST: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xweG... 🦑🌊🐟🧪
A few months ago, this guy went viral online, proving once again that people yearn for cool invertebrates!
Now, follow its journey to the Smithsonian, where this specimen is helping scientists better understand life in the deep Gulf: ocean.si.edu/human-connec...
Photo credit: Mark Lehtonen 🌊🦑🧪
Now, follow its journey to the Smithsonian, where this specimen is helping scientists better understand life in the deep Gulf: ocean.si.edu/human-connec...
Photo credit: Mark Lehtonen 🌊🦑🧪
May 20, 2025 at 1:16 PM
A few months ago, this guy went viral online, proving once again that people yearn for cool invertebrates!
Now, follow its journey to the Smithsonian, where this specimen is helping scientists better understand life in the deep Gulf: ocean.si.edu/human-connec...
Photo credit: Mark Lehtonen 🌊🦑🧪
Now, follow its journey to the Smithsonian, where this specimen is helping scientists better understand life in the deep Gulf: ocean.si.edu/human-connec...
Photo credit: Mark Lehtonen 🌊🦑🧪
See what the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities team is up to! If you missed last week's webinar, not to worry, the recording and slides are now available. See accomplishments from the 2024 field season and activities planned for 2025: www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2025/05/mate... 🌊🧪🦑🐟
May 14, 2025 at 6:39 PM
See what the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities team is up to! If you missed last week's webinar, not to worry, the recording and slides are now available. See accomplishments from the 2024 field season and activities planned for 2025: www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/2025/05/mate... 🌊🧪🦑🐟
Thrilled to share one of my dissertation chapters is now published in Animal Behaviour!
We used biologgers to quantify 3D search behavior by great hammerheads & asses how the scale and speed of searching changes over the diel cycle. 🦑🌊🧪🐟
Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We used biologgers to quantify 3D search behavior by great hammerheads & asses how the scale and speed of searching changes over the diel cycle. 🦑🌊🧪🐟
Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
April 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Thrilled to share one of my dissertation chapters is now published in Animal Behaviour!
We used biologgers to quantify 3D search behavior by great hammerheads & asses how the scale and speed of searching changes over the diel cycle. 🦑🌊🧪🐟
Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We used biologgers to quantify 3D search behavior by great hammerheads & asses how the scale and speed of searching changes over the diel cycle. 🦑🌊🧪🐟
Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Stunning octopus sighting on the dive livestream @schmidtocean.bsky.social 🦑🌊🧪
March 10, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Stunning octopus sighting on the dive livestream @schmidtocean.bsky.social 🦑🌊🧪
Spotted on @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream at almost 3000 m! 🦑🌊🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEh...
March 6, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Spotted on @schmidtocean.bsky.social livestream at almost 3000 m! 🦑🌊🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEh...
Celebrity sighting on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social live cam!! 🦑🌊🧪
Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMfO...
Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMfO...
March 5, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Celebrity sighting on the @schmidtocean.bsky.social live cam!! 🦑🌊🧪
Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMfO...
Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMfO...