...what creatures live in the deep sea? (with Brittany Munson)

Nathan Arriaza: 0:01

Hello, this is Ever Wonder from the California Science Center. I'm Nathan Arriaza.

Gerardo Martinez: 0:05

I'm Gerardo Martinez.

Jose Cornejo: 0:06

I'm Jose Cornejo .

Jason Mejia: 0:08

I'm Jason Mejia.

All: 0:09

And we kicked Karen off the show. We're from Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Los Angeles.

Nathan Arriaza: 0:15

And we've been interns at the California Science Center for the past two years. When we were asked to pitch an idea for the podcast, we immediately knew we wanted our episode to be about the deep sea. The deep sea is a mysterious place with strange life forms and it's hard to explore. There's still a lot that we don't know about this zone. Ever Wonder... what creatures live in the Deep Sea? To help us learn more, we have a deep sea explorer, B rittany M unson with us today. B rittany i s a Senior Educator here at the California Science Center and was part of the team that developed the Blue Whales IMAX movie. She also spent a month on the s hip Nautilus, studying deep sea ecosystems as part o f a fellowship from the Ocean Exploration Trust. Let's take a listen. Today, we have Brittany Munson. Thank you so much, Brittany , for being here today. Before we get started, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who is Brittany ?

Brittnay Munson: 1:14

Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm very, very excited to be here to talk about the deep sea and exploring that wondrous place. So my name is Brittany . I'm an educator at the California Science Center. I love the ocean. My favorite thing about the ocean is whales. I love love, love whales, especially Killer Whales. Some of my favorite things to do. I love photography. Love to go out there in nature and just take pictures of surprise, surprise whales and dolphins, any nature imagery, nature landscapes. I like to go hiking, hang out with my friends, I like to sleep. Those are some things about me. I love traveling, I love adventure, getting out there and exploring. That's just a little bit about me.

Gerardo Martinez: 1:58

Can you tell me a little bit of how you became a deep sea biologist?

Brittnay Munson: 2:02

Sure. Yeah . So I have been interested in the ocean ever since I was a little girl. I used to volunteer at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. I started that when I was a teenager. I think I was about 15 years old or 16 when I started that. I went to school , UC Santa Barbara. Got my degree in Aquatic Biology and did an internship where I was doing coral reef restoration and ecology in The Bahamas. So I've just been all about the ocean ever since I was very, very small. I was very interested in deep sea exploration because that in particular is a part of the ocean that doesn't really get much exploration. It's actually probably the most underexplored part of the ocean on Earth. So I was really, really excited for the opportunity to be able to get on the EV Nautilus or Exploration Vessel Nautilus and it is a vessel or a ship that is dedicated to deep sea exploration.

Jose Cornejo: 3:01

Out in the ocean, what was your role on the Nautilus?

Brittnay Munson: 3:05

So I was awarded a position of Science Communication Fellow. So as a science communication fellow, I was responsible for bringing science to the general public and making science accessible and relevant for everybody. It definitely was a goal of mine to have everybody on earth feel like they could be a part of this science and a part of this exploration. When it came to taking a look at what is in the deep sea, what kinds of things are down there, things that have probably never been seen before or is seen by very few people. So yeah, we had a live video feed that we would show. So anybody can go o nto nautiluslive.org and if there was a n active dive going on, if the ROV, which is i n a remotely operated vehicle was down exploring the depths of the ocean, then everybody on earth could take a look and explore with us live. And we also had a chat, so if people had questions or if people had any comments, I was monitoring that chat and I was able t o answer those questions and get to those comments live in real t ime.

Nathan Arriaza: 4:16

What was the purpose of your expedition and what is the role of the Nautilus?

Brittnay Munson: 4:21

On that particular expedition, which I was on in August of 2023 , we were specifically looking around an area that's called Johnston Atoll. And so around there we were trying to see if we can get a better idea of the geological as well as biological makeup of the deep sea in that area. So we were trying to see what kinds of things were living down there and also trying to see what we can learn from rocks and geologic formations. The Nautilus is an exploration vessel and it's specific for deep sea research or deep sea exploration. So there are two ROVs that are typically used on those expeditions. So there's the ROV Hercules and there's also ROV Atalanta, at least those are the ROVs that were used on my expedition. So they're basically, these robots are ROV Hercules is about the size of a mail truck and then Atalanta , it's like a very large desk, maybe like thinking of like a lawyer's desk or something that's about the size of that ROV. So those are the two ROVs that we would use to help explore the deep sea. So there were zero people in the water, nobody ever got in the water once. We just used the ROVs and sent those overboard. I'm making it sound like it's a lot messier than it was, but we very carefully lowered those into the water and down to the ocean floor. And so those ROVs were the ones that were doing, you know, capturing the images and getting the video and taking samples and things like that. So.

Gerardo Martinez: 6:05

Okay, great. Is there any type of animal or species that caught your eye while exploring the deep sea?

Brittnay Munson: 6:12

Absolutely. Yeah, so I think a lot of people would be surprised to know just how much life there is down in the deep sea. So we were seeing a lot of coral, lots and lots of coral and a lot of times people are surprised that coral is an animal. So we were seeing different coral species, different types of sponges. There were Sea Cucumbers, Sea Stars. That we saw crabs that had like sea anemones on their backs and we were kind of like joke around and say that they were sea anemones backpacks and they were on their way to school. So we had a lot of laughs in that control room as we were watching live what we were seeing down there. But I think that the most eye catching thing that I remember seeing is a dumbo octopus. We actually saw two in one watch, that I had one time and it was really, really amazing. I wasn't really expecting to see a dumbo octopus during my expedition. Being able to see two within a couple of hours of each other, that was really incredible.

Jason Mejia: 7:15

So Brittany, going back to deep sea, when you mentioned deep sea, how deep are we talking about?

Brittnay Munson: 7:23

Excellent question. Yeah, so the ocean is humongous. There is a lot to it, right ? So when does the deep sea start? When does it end? What's going on? Right, so there are different levels of the ocean and just to keep it super simple, so basically there's the top layer, the Photic or sunlight zone, and that's gonna go down to about 200 meters. And then there's the twilight zone underneath that. Okay . So that's when the light is starting to kind of not be able to reach quite as deep. There's still some light, but not nearly as much as in the sunlight zone. Twilight zone usually goes down to about a thousand meters or so, and then that's when you get to the good stuff when it comes to deep sea. So that's when you get to the bathypelagic zone. It's also called the midnight zone. So that's when you have very, very little light if you even see any light at all. And so the bathypelagic or the midnight zone is usually about 4,000 meters deep. Below that is the abyssal, so that's like zero lights, none whatsoever. And that's when you get to about 6,000 meters. But for the purposes of the expedition that I was on, we mainly were exploring in the bathypelagic or the midnight zone. So around the 4,000 meter mark.

Jason Mejia: 8:43

How about the life living down there? What fish can we see at these depths, that like what fish can survive there?

Brittnay Munson: 8:51

Yeah, right, exactly. So it's very, very deep and there are not a lot of things that can survive that kind of pressure. It's a very extreme ecosystem. So here at the California Science Center, we do have an extreme zone, right? So that's where we have the desert zone. That's where we have a polar zone, that's where we have the rocky intertidal and of course the deep sea vents too. So these are areas where it's really hard for living things to survive, but there are some things that do it. So when we talk about the deep sea and the things that live within those depths and at that pressure and that temperature, you know, they have adaptations that help them to be able to withstand that type of pressure. So a lot of creatures are gonna be kind of gelatinous. They don't really have a skeleton. Okay . So if you're kind of jelly-like then the pressure doesn't get to you as much. But in addition to that, there are also animals like coral and sponges who have just a different makeup of their structure and they're able to withstand that type of pressure.

Jose Cornejo: 9:58

So going back, talking about the Nautilus, besides you who was part of the crew , like the professionals, those people taking care of the ROVs, taking up samples?

Brittnay Munson: 10:08

Yeah, so it was not just me alone on that ship, right? There was the team and the crew, there were biologists, geologists, there were navigators, data collectors, data loggers, video interns, ROV pilots. So that's just a sample of some of the positions that people were filling on the Nautilus. But it was a very, very, very collaborative ship, very open for anybody to get experience in anything. It wasn't like, hey, your job is this and your job is that and that's all you do. It was very much like, Hey, come see what I'm doing. Hey, can we ask you to be a part of this? Hey, do you wanna help out with this thing? And in doing all of that, I learned so much. Like I wasn't just a science communication fellow, I was able to be a geologist. I was able to work in the wet lab. I was able to learn about ROV piloting. I didn't get a chance to do it yet, but learning a lot more about it and like I didn't think I was going even be able to touch the ROV, don't even look at the ROV, don't even breathe on it. But I was definitely allowed around it and able to touch it and like get to learn a bit more about the different components , that it takes to have something so amazing, that type of machine to work properly. So very, very cool experience and everybody on board was incredible.

Jason Mejia: 11:35

So it seems like you're talking about like these ROVs, the cameras. How do you think like these technologies have helped us learn more about our deep sea ?

Brittnay Munson: 11:49

The ROVs , specifically Hercules , had a lot of different components that was, it was able to use , to help, you know, with collecting samples. There were two maneuverable arms in the front of the ROV, right? So if we needed to pick something up, turn something over, take a little snippet of something and then put it in a storage compartment, the ROV pilots were able to do that from the ship. And again, the ROVs were connected to the ship via a very, very, very long cord. So that cord was thousands of feet long. Yeah, so lots of storage compartments, lots of flashlights, state of the art cameras. So we were able to get like cinematic quality video.

Nathan Arriaza: 12:35

So since you were aboard with a lot of specialists and doing hands-on learning, was there anything else that you learned that you remember that really stood out to you?

Brittnay Munson: 12:44

Yeah, I mean I learned a whole lot and I'm a biology girl, right? So I went to school and got my degree in Aquatic Biology, but I was very surprised about how much I turned out loving geology. And if Nick ever hears this , I'm sure he's cheering right now. Again, I didn't really care for rocks so much. I like things that are alive and I like things that move around, but I really loved that we had a rock cutter on the ship. We were able to take those rock samples, cut them open and take a look inside and right then and there be able to kind of get an idea , a very rough idea about the geology of that particular part of the ocean. So there were some samples where, you know, Nick was estimating that some of those rock samples were maybe about 80 million years old. I just loved it. I loved cutting open the rocks. I loved seeing how different each one was on the inside because on the outside they all looked the same. They were all coated by something called ferromanganese crust. And that's just what happens when the rock is really, really, really old and it's just been sitting there for a very long time. So they all looked exactly the same on the outside, but on the inside each one looked very different. And I loved that and just being able to learn more about the rocks that way. So that was very surprising for me that I was kind of getting interested in geology and rocks.

Jason Mejia: 14:15

So as we all know, you're a big fan of the deep sea. What would you say your favorite species is or animal is in the sea?

Brittnay Munson: 14:26

Yeah, so my favorite animal ever is a whale. I specifically love killer whales or orca. They wouldn't do so great in the deep sea, but there, yeah, so there are some deep diving wheels. There actually is footage of a sperm whale that was checking out the ROV. This unfortunately wasn't on an expedition that I was on , it was a few years prior, but absolutely wonderful footage. You can actually see the sperm whale, like kind of emerging from the darkness and coming right to the ROV and it's checking out the ROV . It's like what on earth is this? But yeah , sperm whales are able to dive down very deep. I was looking for a sperm whale when I was on the ship , didn't see one , but that was some really amazing footage from a few years before.

Jose Cornejo: 15:15

So Brittany , it seems like a lot of deep sea exploration has been going on. How do you see this in the future? Like how do you see deep sea in like the next couple years?

Brittnay Munson: 15:28

So I know that one thing that Ocean Exploration Trust is striving for is to push the boundaries of exploration. So I believe that the hope of the entire organization is that we can inspire young learners who are thinking of things that we have never even imagined. Like we encourage that creativity, we encourage that imagination, like what can they think of or what can they build, what can they create, what can they do that can help to push the boundaries of exploration and how we can, to get to know more about the Deep Sea and get to know more about this really mysterious place that is very under-explored. So I'm very, very excited to see what the younger generation comes up with and I'm just hoping that they're able to see somebody like me or some of the other people that were on the ship with me and see themselves working in that type of position. And so they can be inspired and really come up with some amazing ways to explore.

Jose Cornejo: 16:33

How can someone who's interested, especially like our younger generation, get involved in deep sea exploration?

Brittnay Munson: 16:40

Excellent. I would say that a good rule of thumb is to get involved early. So start looking for volunteer opportunities, start looking for internship opportunities. I think I mentioned earlier that I first started volunteering at my local aquarium when I was probably like 15. I volunteered in the education department and that led to other opportunities, which led to other opportunities, which led to other opportunities. I think networking is a humongous asset to have. So just getting involved in other people's projects, Hey, what are you up to? Did you help with that? Hey, can I get involved in this thing that you're doing ? I love that the Ocean Exploration Trust is very, very intentional about diversity. So making sure that those who have historically been marginalized in the science community are able to get in there and get involved. So if our coming up generations can keep that momentum going and we wanna hear those voices and we wanna see different folks out there doing different things , I think that would be a really, really great way to go because science is for everyone, exploration is for everyone, and I am hopeful that the future of deep sea exploration is very bright.

Gerardo Martinez: 18:01

Thank you, Brittany . Is there anything else that you would like to share with our listeners?

Brittnay Munson: 18:05

Yeah, again, thank you so, so much for having me on this podcast. I am thrilled that I got to be a guest on here. So just to leave the listeners a few resources. If you are interested in doing more exploration for the deep sea, please, you could check out the nautiluslive.org website. So nautiluslive.org and that's where you are welcome to join live whenever there's an ROV dive going on. Typically in the late spring through the wintertime, that's when the season is. And so you can just hop on and if there's a dive going on, you can see live exactly what the explorers are saying and you can write in the chat and all that stuff like I talked about earlier. And in addition to that, there are all kinds of educational resources. There's actually an activity that I developed. I don't think it's online on that website quite yet, but there's an activity that I worked on and that I've done here at the Science Center, just to get explorers curious and learning more about the Deep Sea and what kinds of things are down below. Definitely that's an excellent resource to check out and if anybody's interested in chatting more , I would be happy to leave my email address or something like that in the show notes if that's allowed. But yeah, I'd really love to chat with other people about the wonders of exploring, especially the deep sea.

All: 19:35

Brittany , Brittany , thank you for joining us . Thank you for joining us.

Brittnay Munson: 19:37

Thank you so much for having me . It's really been a lot of fun hanging out with you guys.

Nathan Arriaza: 19:43

And that's our show. Thanks for listening. Until next time, keep wondering. Ever Wonder from the California Science Center is produced by Karen Arroyo , along with Perry Roth-Johnson, D. Hunter White , and Jennifer Aguirre. Liz Roth-Johnson and D. Hunter White are our editors. Theme music provided by Michael Nickolas and Pond5. We'll drop a new episode every other Wednesday. If you're a fan of the show, be sure to subscribe and leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcast. It really helps other people discover our show, have a question you've been wondering about. Send us an email or voice recording to everwonder@californiasciencecenter.org to tell us what you'd like to hear in future episodes.