logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
13 m

Meet The Bony-Eared Assfish And Its Deep...

NPR
About this episode
Yi-Kai Tea, a biodiversity research fellow at the Australian Museum in Sydney, has amassed a social media following as @KaiTheFishGuy for his sassy writing and gorgeous photos of fish and other wildlife.

Kai recently returned from an expedition aboard an Australian research ship to explore the deep seas surrounding a new marine park in the Indian Ocean. Led by the Museums Victoria Research Institute, dozens of scientists aboard mapped the ocean floor and, using nets dropped to as deep as six kilometers, gathered thousands of specimens, ranging from the utterly adorable deep sea batfish to the terrifying highfin lizardfish to the unfortunately named bony-eared assfish.

Today on the show, Kai takes host Aaron Scott on a tour of the ocean floor and the fantastical creatures that call it home.

"They are masters of the realm," says Kai. "You can't live in 3,000 meters of water and not be a master at what you do. And the fact that these creatures are living down there, thriving and making the most out of these habitats, that's a remarkable feat."

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Yesterday
Iran offline: How a government can turn off the internet
There’s an ongoing, near-total blackout of the internet in Iran. The shutdown is part of a response by the government to ongoing protests against rising inflation and the value of the nation’s currency plummeting. Since protests began more than two weeks ago, only an estimated 3% ... Show More
13m 17s
Jan 23
The plight of penguins in Antarctica
A new study shows penguins are breeding earlier than ever in the Antarctic Peninsula. This region is one of the fastest-warming areas of the world due to climate change, and penguins time their breeding period to environmental conditions. That’s everything from the temperature ou ... Show More
8m 32s
Jan 21
A failed galaxy could solve the dark matter mystery
Cloud 9 is a failed galaxy. It’s a clump of dark matter, called a dark matter halo, that never formed stars. But this failure could be the key to a mystery almost as old as the universe itself: dark matter. Scientists don’t know what dark matter is, but Cloud 9 could offer new cl ... Show More
12m 47s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2022
Exploring Pristine Seas
National Geographic Explorer in Residence Enric Sala quit academia to explore and protect the sea. On his journey to keep the ocean pristine, he has swam with jellyfish in Palau, gone diving in the Arctic, and got acquainted with sharks at Millennium Atoll. Sala’s explorations ha ... Show More
31m 21s
Feb 2021
What is at the bottom of the ocean?
The ocean covers over 70% of our planet, and yet, we’ve only mapped about a tenth of it. We know more about the far side of the moon than we know about our own ocean! In this episode, Tai explores the deep ocean to learn about its mysteries and what survives in its darkest corner ... Show More
25m 30s
Jan 2022
Deep ocean exploration
UCL oceanographer Helen Czerski explores life in the ocean depths with a panel of deep sea biologists. They take us to deep ocean coral gardens on sea mounts, to extraordinary hydrothermal vent ecosystems teeming with weird lifeforms fed by chemosynthetic microbes, to the remarka ... Show More
37m 16s
Feb 2022
Deep sea exploration
UCL oceanographer Helen Czerski explores life in the ocean depths with a panel of deep sea biologists. They take us to deep ocean coral gardens on sea mounts, to extraordinary hydrothermal vent ecosystems teeming with weird lifeforms fed by chemosynthetic microbes, to the remarka ... Show More
37m 22s
Oct 2023
The Infinite Monkey’s Guide to... Oceans
If there’s any doubt that the deep sea is as exciting to explore as the moon or Mars, this episode puts the question to rest, as Robin and Brian wade through the back catalogue to learn all about the ocean. Professor Lloyd Peck from the British Antarctic Survey tells them about t ... Show More
23m 45s
Mar 2023
Eavesdropping on orcas: love, grief, and family
<p>This past summer, I was in Alaska in a little coastal town called Seward - a gorgeous spot on the Kenai Peninsula tucked between the ocean and some giant glacier-covered mountains. I met a guy named Dan Olsen, who records killer whale calls using an underwater hydrophone.&nbsp ... Show More
33m 56s
Nov 2022
Meet the mysterious "monsters" of the deep sea | Alan Jamieson
The "aliens" of Earth live in the deepest parts of the ocean, and marine biologist Alan Jamieson has the photographs to prove it. Explore the depths with Jamieson as he challenges what you may believe (or have been told) really lies waiting in the world's darkest, most remote wat ... Show More
11m 3s