iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 01/08/2026

Bro' that snail is OP! The #scalyfootsnail dominates the board in the award-winning #Endeavor: #DeepSea. We catch up with the games creators @wellycon_nz to talk about how the #deepocean and #research are represented in their boardgame. Check it out in our latest episode.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 03/07/2026

A whole life grumpy and spiky. The fangtooth Anoplogaster cornuta is a #deepsea icon but have you ever seen a baby? 1st from Andrew's eel expedition. 2nd image CSIRO specimen.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 26/06/2026

This week's highlight was this beautiful lass. A Himantolophus. Doll-like eyes and an elaborate fishing lure (the esca). It came with a note for Andrew. He's an obsessive. If you don't believe me, check out the latest @deepseapod.com episode all about #deepsea #anglerfish

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/06/2026

Last week's processing was all about the ghost #sharks (#chimera). These are from fisheries bycatch. Love these ancient prototypes that are still rocking it in the deep sea. Their snouts are stitched with a variety of sensors that allow them to detect buried prey.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 31/05/2026

#wellycon #boardgame con is on this weekend and I caught up with the creators of #EndevourDeepSea for @deepseapod.com. For the cons special edition card they wanted to showcase New Zealand marine science and ended up using our expedition. ...where do I put this on the impact reporting?

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/05/2026

This #batfish was the highlight of today's processing.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 30/03/2026

Never a dull moment at #TePapa! Today I met THE #tortoise #torty from our #galipoli exhibition. Not planned, I just bumped into her! This place is something else.

A living tortoise next to a book called Torty and the Soldier and a model tortoise in a museum exhibit.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 27/03/2026

In the latest episode we talk with a #deepsea legend Nigel Merritt. He shares a career that spans whaling, months on a vessel with no common language, and pioneering methods that have shaped how we understand the #deepocean. Find it in #podcast places. www.deepseapod.com/episodes/67

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/03/2026

Lovely gift left on my desk. Meet Tulip

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 19/03/2026

Thank you #FijiSci for helping me keep count.

X-rays of fish with coloured counters labelling some bones and fin rays.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 25/02/2026

The day before heading out to #Antarctica to look for the #colossalsquid with our low-light/far-red camera, I caught the #IronLungMovie and loved it. Now I'm in an inhospitable environment looking for monsters in an ocean of blood 😐. #ProjectESCA #ironlung #deepsea

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 25/02/2026

The shapes of #PancakeIce are really satisfying. They remind me of jellyfish, giant waterlilies and some sort of paper sculpture. #Antarctica #RossSea

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 23/02/2026

Eerily peaceful moments at 3am off Ross Island. #antarctica is a magical place of extremes. @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/02/2026

A new record for #projectESCA, down to 700 m deep from a Zodiac using a pot-hauler and a battery. This project is the embodiment of #number8wire. @pure-ocean.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social #Antarctic #Antarctica #RossSea

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 20/01/2026

Too many cookies over Christmas? Why not use a smaller #cookiecuttershark to cut back? Adorable little horror.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 16/01/2026

#anglerfish are so gross and scary! Oh really, have you seen the babies? They look like a furious peeled grape! #deepsea

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 15/01/2026

I wondered why I was randomly drawn to this doorway. 2nd image: Smithsonian image by Dave Johnson of Harvard MCZ specimen 60585

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 19/12/2025

A gem from Andrew's book collection. Giving me nostalgia for Northern Hemisphere fishes... Where cod are cod dammit!

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 17/12/2025

Clearer image from the aquarist.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 17/12/2025

Conjoined African Rift Valley cichlids at the local aquarium. While one certainly got the short straw, both are alive at 9 days old.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 20/11/2025

Checking out our new neighbours @mitre10.bsky.social and loving seeing Te Papa feature so prominently on the mural as a Wellington icon.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 26/10/2025

ROBIO, one of @hadalbloke.bsky.social's early landers.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 26/10/2025

Managed to catch #MonstersoftheDeep at #AberdeenArtGallery. A fun and grounded exhibit on mythical #monsters, #hoaxes and real #deepsea #science. Including some of our old work.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 12/09/2025

The magic of cross polarisation! It's tough taking pics of fish. They're so shiny and it can hide the details. If you polarise the light source and then add a polarising filter to the camera you can filter out all the scatter and be left with the beautiful details and colour.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 22/07/2025

More nonsense from our #Antarctic data processing. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsi) were attracted to the ROV lights. This one shoots off like #roderunner. @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 18/07/2025

Me and @autsquidsquad.bsky.social have been annotating @schmidtocean.bsky.social #Antarctic footage today and it may have driven us a little.... Strange. #soundon #Cephalopods #octopus #antarctica

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 17/05/2025

I haven't seen this misleading labelling method before. I was recommended the one on the right as better value. 10 mg of nothing is still nothing.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 06/03/2025

A nice side effect of joining #IntrepidTravel is the chance for #scicomm - talks on #ProjectESCA & #colossalsquid. Loving the guest engagement and #fanart! Last night they were on the @deepseapodcast.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social @pure-ocean.bsky.social #Te_Papa @autnews.bsky.social

Kat Bolstad gives a lecture in the lounge aboard the Ocean Endeavour. A life-sized plush colossal squid joins her on stage.

Some of the fan art we have gotten from guests. Drawings and stories about squid and fish.

Thom Linley gives a lecture in the lounge aboard the Ocean Endeavour.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 03/03/2025

It's happening! @autsquidsquad.bsky.social and I are out with #IntrepidTravel deploying #ProjectESCA in search of the #ColossalSquid. Supported by @pure-ocean.bsky.social, #Te_Papa and #AutScience, we have developed a suitcase-sized light lure and camera system. #deepsea #deepocean #Antarctica

Thom Linley and Kat Bolstad stand in front of an open hatch in safety gear. The ocean and icebergs are visible through it.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 31/01/2025

A #bioluminescent #psudomorph captured by #ProjectESCA. Many animals use light to distract a predator. Some bind it in mucose to give it a shape. Like throwing your shadow so you can get away. #antarcticclimateconnections #PureOceanFund @schmidtocean.bsky.social @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

A blob of blue-green light against a black background.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 26/01/2025

I hope our lure attracts squi... THUNK! #ProjectESCA works! Squid like the lure and a 360 camera means nowhere to hide. Likely a glacial or clubhook #squid, this is 200m in #Antarctica #AntarcticClimateConnections #SchmidtOcean #PureOceanFund #Te_Papa @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 24/01/2025

#bioluminescent #fireworks #ProjectESCA is very light-sensitive, even detecting flashes from tiny organisms! Something crashes, letting out a bio-firework in surprise! #AntarcticClimateConnections #Challenger150 @autsquidsquad.bsky.social #PureOceanFund

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/01/2025

I am already writing a sitcom about these two. Heartwarming unlikely friendship kinda thing. #Antarctica #EmperorPenguin #penguin #AntarcticaClimateConnections

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 21/01/2025

A frenzy of activity as immaculate specimens arrive. The #crinoid is a filter feeding starfish relative. #AntarcticClimateConnections is sampling seabed previously covered in ice that has no associated data; biological, geological, oceanographic, mapping... nada! #Challenger150 #projectESCA

Scientists peer into clear containers filled with deep sea animals

A clear container housing a crinoid. A feathery relative of starfish

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 18/01/2025

#seals chilling on #icebergs in #Antarctica. I don't think I'm going to tyre of these views. Extremely lucky to be here. Tomorrow the work starts... #Challenger150 #AntarcticClimateConnections

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 16/01/2025

We entered the #Antarctic #PolarCircle and stuff just started happening all at once! #Icebergs and #whales out the window. #AntarcticClimateConnections

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 13/01/2025

We have just crossed the 60° parallel and entered #Antarctic waters. It was still dusk at midnight last night. #AntarcticClimateConnections

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 11/01/2025

We have rounded #CapeHorn and entered #DrakePassage. #Antarctica here we come! @SchmidtOcean #AntarcticClimateConnections is underway! Learn about the cruise and get updates here: schmidtocean.org/cruise/clima... Track the ship here: soi-vessel-tracker.web.app #DiveStream on the way.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 23/12/2024

Andrew has a #shark #nativity scene of course.

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 16/12/2024

Another amazing day on the water yesterday testing #projectESCA with Otago Uni's MMRG, recording #SpermWhales. More #deepsea #whales so I'll allow it. Huge thanks to the wonderful team who took us along. Sorry I was sick all down your hull :-/

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Dr Thom @thomaslinley.com · 14/12/2024

Amazing day on the water yesterday while @autsquidsquad.bsky.social and I were testing #projectESCA with Otago Uni's MMRG. #BeakedWhales right alongside! These #deepsea #whales are such a rare sight.

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