1 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow your mind. My 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,319 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: time to go into the vault for part two of 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: our exploration of William Beebe and the Bathosphere. That's right. 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: This episode originally aired March eighteen, technically not even a 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: year ago, but we're re airing the Bathosphere episodes because 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: they concerned the deep ocean and the mysteries of the deep. 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: And we've got a new fiction podcast venture launching January 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: thirty one, titled Transgenesis UM that I wrote and created 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: and worked with a whole host of people here at 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works and people from outside the organization, including Joe. 12 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: Joe's on the podcast as well. Oh I am, oh, yeah, 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: I guess I am. Yeah. So everyone should should tune 14 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: in for that. If you want to check that venture out, 15 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: head on over to Transgenesis dot show. That's the website. Uh. 16 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: And also, I think by the time you're listening to this, 17 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: you should be able to look up Transgenesis and begin 18 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: subscribing to it. If not, that'll be coming soon. We're 19 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 1: all so excited about that. Robert, you shouldn't sound so 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: bashful you should be shouting from the rooftops. Well, it's 21 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: still early days. I'm working up to shouting. So hopefully 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: the next of all episodes, I'll do more shouting. Okay, 23 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: Transgenesis is coming also check that out. But today please 24 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: enjoy part two of our exploration of the atmosphere. Welcome 25 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff Works 26 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey you, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and 28 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: we're back with part two of our two part exploration 29 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: of the depths of the see the History of Knowledge 30 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: and Exploration of the deep Sea. And this this time 31 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: we're really going to be focusing in on William b. B. 32 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: That's right. We we alluded to him at the beginning 33 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: of the last episode. So he was an American naturalist, explorer, author, 34 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: uh he of from eighteen seventy seven to nineteen sixty two, 35 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: and h he was. He was a very interesting fellow, 36 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: just to put it mildly. Before there was Neil de Grass, 37 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: Dyson or Carl Sagan or even Jacques Gusteau, there was 38 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: William Beebe, who some writers have called the first celebrity scientist. 39 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: So he traveled around and lectured, he wrote books, he recruited, 40 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: we received quite a bit of media coverage, and he 41 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: was actually in writing books. He was a good writer, 42 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: this thing that helps. Yeah, he was a good popularizer 43 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: of science. He was a great science communicator before this 44 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: was really that much of a thing. Yeah, I often 45 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: think of Darwin as a great science communicator, but yeah, 46 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: Beebe really took it to the next level, especially as 47 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: we'll talk about in a minute, by employing all kinds 48 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: of people to help spread the message of scientific discoveries 49 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: in ways that are easily digestible to the public. Yeah. 50 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: So he he was an ornithologist at the New York 51 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: Zoological Society and uh he he actually left college before 52 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: completing his degree in order to to to work, uh 53 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: for for the society. But he just he's one of 54 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: these guys who just seemed to really just ascend once 55 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: he you know, once he hit the ground working he 56 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: was he would have ended up being becoming the founder 57 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,119 Speaker 1: of the Society's Department of Tropical Research. And he conducted 58 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: he conducted research, it's worth noting across two world wars 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: and the Great Depression, like that was the time period, 60 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: the Trying time period, a time when most of the 61 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: energy in the world seemed to be aimed at either 62 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: conducting warfare, surviving warfare, surviving economic depression. UH. But he 63 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: was able to successfully carry out a great deal of 64 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: research and UH and then communicate the Department of the 65 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: Tropical Researches work as well. And to do this he 66 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: enlisted not only scientists but also historians, writers, and artists. 67 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: And by this I mean he took artists with him 68 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: on his expedition, generating some really captivating artwork and b 69 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: B himself sketched the creatures that he saw in the depths. 70 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: I mean. It's really kind of surprising, however, though, that that, 71 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: given that he was such a celebrity at the time, uh, 72 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: that that we don't see him celebrated as much in 73 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: pop culture today. Like he's certainly again, he's remembered, it's 74 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: not like he's forgotten and lost to history. But you 75 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: would just think that he would have more of a 76 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: like a tesla status today. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I 77 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: will say that again. Before we went to this recent 78 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: exhibit at the American Museum and Natural History in New 79 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: York about the Unseen Depths of the Ocean had some 80 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: stuff about BB before that. I think maybe I was 81 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: a little bit aware of him, but didn't really know anything. 82 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: And that's crazy, because his life and his work was 83 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: so interesting. Yeah, I mean for starters, he influenced a 84 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: number of notable people. Um For instance, E. O. Wilson, 85 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: who we've discussed on the show before, has has pointed 86 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: to William Beebe as someone who inspired his scientific career. Yeah. 87 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: There are a lot of interesting things about Bebe's legacy. 88 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: One cool one that does get mentioned sometimes is the 89 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: fact that he was criticized during his life for hiring 90 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: and mentoring female researchers, which a lot of irritable sexist 91 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: establishment scientists of the time thought was an indication that 92 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: his work was not serious or was unprofessional. Uh, of 93 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: course they were wrong, right. BB helped give a leg 94 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: up to a great scientists like Joscelyn Crane, who studied, 95 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: among other things, invertebrate ethology, so the behavior of invertebrates, 96 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: with a special focus on fiddler crabs, and also the 97 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: explorer and research scientists Gloria Hollister, who pioneered lab techniques 98 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: for preparing marine specimens, and she herself actually performed a 99 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: dives in the capsule that we're gonna be talking about 100 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: more in this episode of the Bathosphere, the steel ball 101 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: that finally took us down into the depths. Some of 102 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: the females he employed were also artists as well. There's 103 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: actually a wonderful New York Times article that came out, uh, 104 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: just last year about an exhibition of various works from 105 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: this period that I recommend everyone check out it. If 106 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: you just look for William Bbe Department of Trapical Research illustrations, 107 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: you'll find it. And there's some just some fabulous illustrations 108 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: of say, the Bathosphere descending into the depths with strange 109 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: creatures swirling around it. Yeah, if you get a chance, 110 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: you should look up illustrations. Especially I would say of 111 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: the artist Elsa Bostelmann, who she was one of the 112 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: artists who accompanied his research, and she sketched and painted 113 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: what bb and and his companion Notice Barton saw in 114 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: the deep from the Bathosphere, which we're gonna be talking 115 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: about more later. But her work is just beautiful and 116 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: weird and superb. It's uh, it's excellent science art. Yeah, 117 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: for reasons that will become obvious as we proceed of 118 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: photography or certainly film was just not an option aboard 119 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: the Bathosphere, so they had to depend on sketches. Uh. 120 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: And and also just you have considered the time during 121 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: which all this have taken place. For instance, so one 122 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: of his dives was actually broadcast on NBC Radio, which 123 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: is a testament to the popularity of his work, but 124 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: also just shows you the limitations of the visual technology 125 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: at the time. Now. Of course, another great weird note 126 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: in pop culture is that BB's collaborator Otis Barton, who 127 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: was his his co pilot in the Bathisphere and one 128 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: of the people, I think the designer, the main designer 129 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: of the Bathosphere made a movie, made a movie based 130 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: on what they did. Yeah, Titans of the Deep. And 131 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: if you look at the poster art for this film, 132 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: and I'll try to include it on the landing page 133 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: for this episode, is stuff to blow your mind. It 134 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: creates certain expectations of the content. Yeah, I will say, 135 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: it's so it's supposed to be like a documentary film, 136 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: right they's they made it as a documentary apparently, And 137 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: even though it's like BB is mentioned uh on the 138 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: on the poster, it's really apparently BB wasn't himself super 139 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: involved in the production. Yeah, I've seen it actually described 140 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: as more of like an action movie or an exploitation 141 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: horror movie. I couldn't. I couldn't find this movie, so 142 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: I don't. I didn't get to watch it. Yeah I 143 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: would have. I was not able to find, uh, even 144 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: any footage from it or a trailer or what would 145 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: pass for a trailer. But you can definitely get a 146 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: sense of the vibe they were going for if you 147 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: just look at the poster, which of course has like 148 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: a vague whale shaped sea monster with this big saw 149 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: tooth face and then a dude with a harpoon poise 150 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: to hit it. It looks in composition like the much 151 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: later poster for the movie Journey to the Seventh Planet, 152 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: which is this nineteen sixty two sci fi barbecue about 153 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: a bunch of astronauts who fly out to explore Uranus 154 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: and then get this they essentially end up with a 155 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: d intellectualized version of the plot from Solaris and the 156 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: movie stars, of course, John agar Ah, yes a frequent 157 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: a frequent name for anyone's ever plunged the depths of 158 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: of B movies from that era. But if you look 159 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: at this poster for Journey to the Seventh Planet. It's 160 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: I don't know if it was actually inspired by Titans 161 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: of the Deep, but they look very similar to me. 162 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: I also found an image this was an advertisement. But 163 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: it turns out even Otis Barton, who accompanied William bb 164 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: in the Bathosphere. He was famous enough at the time 165 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: to appear in a camel advertisement for Camel cigarettes where 166 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: you see him featured there and he's saying, I smoke 167 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: as many camels as I like. They don't give me 168 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: jittery nerves. No, camels have a have a swell taste, 169 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: mild and yet with rich, mellow flavor. I smoked them 170 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: all in the Bathosphere. I don't I do not think 171 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: the bathosphere is a good smoking environment. Two packs per dive. Well, 172 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,199 Speaker 1: we've been teasing it enough. I think maybe we should 173 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: take a quick break and then when we come back, 174 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: we should discuss the bathosphere itself. All right, thank thank alright, 175 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: we're back al right, So I will refer you to 176 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: an image like a photograph of the Bathosphere on the 177 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: landing page for this episode is stuff to blow your 178 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: mind dot com. But we're also going to describe it 179 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: for you here so no need to pull the car 180 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: over what have you. Depending on how you're listening to us. Okay, so, 181 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: as you're trying to imagine the Bathosphere, it's probably best 182 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: to dismiss some of your more modern and TV friendly 183 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: notions of exploratory submarines, because the bathosphere was less of 184 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: a submarine and more of just a death trap. Right. 185 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: It's like, would you like to get inside a bowling 186 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: ball and go to the bottom of the ocean? Yeah, 187 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: a steel ball that men climb inside and then it 188 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: is lowered into the ocean depths. Let's let's ask some questions. 189 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: Does this have a propeller? No? Does it have fins? No? 190 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 1: Does it have robotic arms? No? What does it have 191 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: really anything on the outside other than just a steel sphere? 192 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: I mean, basically, it is a steel bowling ball that 193 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: men climb inside through what what Baby referred to just 194 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: as the door? And then it has even door is 195 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,439 Speaker 1: a little misleading, Yeah, I mean it's not really a door. 196 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: They got in through a hole that was then bolted shut. Right. See, 197 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: it's sealed shut like a like an iron casket. And 198 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 1: then it has these three uh, the three portals that 199 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: they look out off that look kind of like stubby eyestalks. So, Robert, 200 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: how big was the athmosphere that these two people got into? Well, 201 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: here's a here's a quick quote from Baby from his 202 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: biography half Mile Down, which which we're gonna refer to 203 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: a lot. If if if we read a quote quote 204 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: from Baby in this and we don't fully attribute it, 205 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: it's from half Mile Down. Baby says it was not 206 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: as tall as a man, measuring only four ft nine 207 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: inches in diameter, but its walls were everywhere an inch 208 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: and a quarter thick, and it weighed five thousand, four 209 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: hundred pounds. A first casting had weighed twice as much, 210 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: but it would have been too heavy for any of 211 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 1: the winches available in Bermuda. And was jumped. Now about 212 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 1: this steel ball. If you don't have an intuitive since 213 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,199 Speaker 1: of numbers to physical scale, I want to pause for 214 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: a second and dwell on how tiny this is. You 215 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: can buy beach balls bigger than this undersea exploration vessel. 216 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: That's crazy. You included a picture here on our notes 217 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: showing what a sixty beach ball looks like next to 218 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: presumably an average sized individual. I guess there is probably 219 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: a tall guy, but but still imagine two of him 220 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: inside of it. That's unbelievable. And that's bigger than the 221 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: bathosphere was. This was this thing was tiny. People like 222 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: they were crammed inside. But there was a reason it 223 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: had to be that small, right, Yeah, because, as William J. 224 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: Broad points out in his book The Universe Below, the 225 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: smaller the sphere, the greater strength of its walls. If 226 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: you had more space in there, you need thicker walls, 227 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: which would of course mean increasing the weight of the thing. 228 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, we run into the problem with with with 229 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: the winches that we've already discussed. It's almost like a 230 00:12:55,880 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: parallel of the problems of shielding from radiation in space, 231 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: right Like, you want to send up a spacecraft that 232 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: will protect the astronauts with really thick shielding in the walls, 233 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: but you've got a problem with getting so much mass 234 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: up into space that you know, you could have all 235 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: these really really thick walls. It's like a parallel to that. 236 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: You know, you you could have really really thick walls 237 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: to make sure you're super protected from the pressure and 238 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: you've got enough room to move around, but it just 239 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: gets harder and harder to get you down into the 240 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: depths and back up safely if you do that. Yeah. 241 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:30,839 Speaker 1: So this was designed by BB an American engineer Otis Barton, 242 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: who already mentioned, and it featured three viewing portals and 243 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: these were This was not glass. You couldn't just look 244 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: out just normal glass because it needed to withstand the pressure. 245 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: This was fused quartz eight inches in diameter and three 246 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: inches thick, and the fittings again, they look like stubby 247 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: eye stalks. It's like a three eyed monster. Yeah. And 248 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: quartz was used because it was the quote strongest transparent 249 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: substance known and it transmits all wavelengths of light. Now, 250 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: earlier we mentioned the door that wasn't really a door. 251 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,959 Speaker 1: What does BB say about the door. He describes it 252 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: as a quote round four hundred pound lid that quote 253 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: had to be lifted on and off by a block 254 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: and tackle and fitted snugly over ten large bolts around 255 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: the manhole. The ladder just big enough to permit the 256 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: passage of a slender human body. Babe was a very 257 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: slender guy, we should point out. I've seen pictures of 258 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: him and he is spind lee. Now on top of that, 259 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: let's discuss some of the other attributes of physical attributes 260 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: of the bathosphere. It had a single external light, just 261 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: one thousand watts and one light and you've flipped it 262 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: on or off from inside. And the sphere was lowered 263 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: on a single steel, non twisting cable nearly an inch 264 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: in diameter with a breaking strain of twenty nine tons 265 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: or a dozen bathispheres. Okay, So they wanted to be 266 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: real safe because, of course, if that cable breaks, you're 267 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: in a world a hurt. Yeah, you're you're done for, 268 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: and you have to worry about more than just the 269 00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: what happens if the cable breaks, So you have to 270 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: worry about, well, what if they're stormy weather, et cetera. 271 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: Now you mentioned there's a light on the thing, so 272 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: that means they got to get power down there somehow. Yeah, 273 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: So they had an additional cable that carried both the 274 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: electrical power and the telephone wires. Oh, telephone wires. So 275 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: they had to have some way to communicate with the service. 276 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: I assume they couldn't just tug on the cable. Yeah, 277 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: I don't think that would work. But but yeah, this 278 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: is this is kind of the limits of their connections 279 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: to the surface. They had electricity coming down and they 280 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: had that telephone wire. They did not have an air 281 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: tube coming down. No, but of course they had to breathe. 282 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: So the batmosphere included oxygen tanks with automatic valves. Uh. 283 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: That provided the atmosphere, and then they just had trays 284 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: of chemical setting out. I believe it was soda, lime, 285 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: and calcium chloride. Yeah. And this was to absorb moisture 286 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: and carbon dioxide. Yeah, because you don't just need fresh 287 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: air to breathe in, you need to scrub the carbon 288 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: dioxide that you're breathing out. Yeah. I would, I would 289 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: just want to drive home. How I mean, it's an 290 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: amazing invention, but how dangerously crude it can it can feel. 291 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: It reminds me of there was the film was it 292 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: The Voyagers the Explorers? Yes, where the kids build this 293 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: kind of spaceship that sets inside a like a magic 294 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: force field sphere. But they just build it, right, They 295 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: just constructed from what they have at hand, And there's 296 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: a there's a similar vibe with the bathosphere like that. 297 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: There's just it's just so ballsy to imagine climbing in 298 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: this thing and the depth. I mean, it is a 299 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: large ball, It is a it is a steel ball. Yes. 300 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: And even though it holds two divers and is essentially 301 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: a two man crew, uh BB says that the total 302 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: crew required to support this thing, uh, most of which 303 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: are going to be members on the surface. Uh, it 304 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: comes to around twenty eight people total, so two under 305 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: the water above the water. All right. So let's say 306 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: you're William Bbe and you're like, okay, I've got a 307 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: steel ball to die in. Um, where where are we 308 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,199 Speaker 1: going to put this down in the water? Well, they 309 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: set their side some the deep seas off the coast 310 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: of Bermuda, UH, specifically a circular area about eight miles 311 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: in diameter near non Such Island, and here the depth 312 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: reached about a mile. The first dive occurred in nineteen thirty. 313 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,680 Speaker 1: By June eleven, nineteen thirty, they'd reached a depth of 314 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: dred feet or four hundred meters, and in nineteen thirty 315 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: four they reached three thousand feet or nine hundred meters, 316 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,159 Speaker 1: And that was, of course by far the world record. 317 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: That they went much lower than anybody had ever been 318 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: able to explore before. Yeah, they were really breaking new 319 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: grounds with this. Now, the bathosphere greatly improved humanity's ability 320 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: to explore the depths. Uh. But again it was it 321 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: was ultimately a risky vessel to use, and it was 322 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: soon replaced by safer designs, including the bath Escape, which 323 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: positioned a traditional bathosphere beneath a large float, and even 324 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 1: the likes of the modern deep sea channel You're famously 325 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: piloted by James Cameron that boasts a pilot sphere position 326 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: beneath the rest of the vessel. So you can think 327 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: of post bathosphere designs as just basically being the bathosphere 328 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: attached to a larger system of flotation, a submarine based submarine. 329 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: Basically like, let's attach this to a submarine that has power, 330 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: that has the ability to to to raise and lower 331 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: itself within the water. But the bathosphere was was just 332 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: the sphere, just the this uh, this steel container for 333 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: the humans to descend in. Having your own power really 334 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,880 Speaker 1: does seem to make a difference, right, I Mean, there's 335 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: a huge difference between being in a submarine that can 336 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: move and just hanging in a ball on a thread. Yeah, 337 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 1: I mean just the psychological uh notion here, just the 338 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: idea that they have some if I if I get 339 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: tired of descending into the darkness of the deep sea, 340 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: then I can just I can. I can raise myself 341 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: out of this. I have some level of control, and 342 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: I'm not just hoping that everything is going okay up 343 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: there on the surface now. Of course, by virtue of 344 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: the fact that BB and his team went deeper than 345 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 1: anyone ever had before, he got to observe far more 346 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: than anyone ever had before. So I think we should 347 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: go into his scientific observations, and we'll do that right 348 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: after this break. Thank thank Alright, we're back. So William B. 349 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: B the modern Gilgamesh. He and his co pilot are 350 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: in the ball in the steel death trap, sinking down, down, 351 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: down into the ocean, deeper than anybody's ever gone before, 352 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: and looking out the portholes to see what they can see. 353 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: So let's talk about what they see. What did they 354 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: discover through this research method? Well? BB observed and sketched 355 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: again because cameras of the day were largely useless given 356 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: the conditions of the bathosphere in its environment. But he 357 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 1: described a world quote stranger than any imagination could have conceived, 358 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: and he writes about it very beautifully. Oh yeah, and 359 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: and he really brought the results. Between seven b B 360 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: and his team caught more than a hundred and fifteen 361 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: thousand animals from two hundred and twenty species, many many 362 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: of which were new to science, so they were combining 363 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: different research methods at the same time. Now, before we 364 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: get into some of the specific creatures that he saw 365 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: claim to have seen, uh, we should probably just talk 366 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: about his experience with darkness and light, because ultimately that 367 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: is the I mean that, that's kind of the defining 368 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: experience that he describes. Oh, exactly, so bb Right's quote, 369 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: in the course of the half mile down, although my 370 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: eyes were perfectly dark adapted, I could detect not the 371 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: faintest glimmer of light from seventeen hundred feet down, So, 372 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: as far as the human eye was concerned, conditions of 373 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: absolute darkness existed at these deeper levels. And then he says, 374 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: from seventeen hundred feet down, animal light is the only 375 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: external source of illumination. So of course they did have 376 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: a light they could flip on, but they didn't want 377 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: to do that all the time, right, because that would 378 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: be affecting and changing the environment, So they didn't do 379 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: that at always. They would try to see often just 380 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,360 Speaker 1: what they could see in the dark that was self illuminated. 381 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: And when you go that far down. There actually are 382 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: very many bioluminescent creatures that will illuminate themselves for you 383 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: to see. But they'll also illuminate the water so that 384 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: you can see other animals around them. And BB writes quote, 385 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: Occasionally the head of a fish would appear conspicuously against 386 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: the surrounding black, illumined by some indirect source of unknown lighting. 387 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: Eyes especially stood out, with no definite source of light visible. 388 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: When teeth were thus silhouetted, I knew it was from 389 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,719 Speaker 1: a luminous mucus which covered them. Cheek lights flashed and 390 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: dimmed or vanished altogether, showing some control other than the 391 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: usual disappearance into an opaque epidermal trench. And I should 392 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: mention those last quotes I provided came from a paper 393 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: he published in Proceedings to the National Academy of Sciences 394 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty two or thirty three. Yeah, he was 395 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: extremely impressed by the display of bioluminescence as as he descended, 396 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: so he noted the lights of fish, jellies, and various 397 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: animals that he couldn't really identify in passing. And it 398 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: was something of a revelation to him. About a third 399 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: of a mile down he saw something that he described 400 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: as a quote pyrotechnic network and was and it was 401 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: quote so delicate and evanescent that its abyssal form is 402 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: quite lost if we ever take it in our nets. 403 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: So in other words, if we were just to pull 404 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: this up, you know what, what would we have. We 405 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: would have maybe some shriveled mass, but we certainly would 406 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: not have this floating bioluminescent thing that I'm witnessing right now. Well, 407 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: in the last episode, we talked about the c cucumber 408 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: that turns to red kool aid. Here you would guests 409 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: turn into buyo luminescent kool aid. And then there's this, 410 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: there's this, this description of the abyssal rainbow cars, which 411 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 1: will come back to later on. He says, at eleven 412 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 1: seventeen o'clock, I turned the light on suddenly and saw 413 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: a strange quartet of fish to which I have not 414 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: been able to fit genus or family, shape, size, color, 415 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: and one fin I saw clearly. But ourbistle rainbow guards 416 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: is as far as I dare go, you know, words 417 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: these saying that's as far as I dare go, and 418 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: classifying it and naming it quote and they may be anything, 419 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: but guards about four inches overall. They were slender and stiff, 420 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:24,199 Speaker 1: with long, sharply pointed jaws. And it's worth noting no 421 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: one has ever captured a specimen quite like this, nor 422 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: seen it. Uh And this, this is one of the 423 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: mysteries that arises from William Beebe's observations, specimens that have 424 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: have not been caught or even witnessed again, and we're 425 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: left to wonder what what did he see? Right? Did 426 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,520 Speaker 1: he have access somehow to to seeing things no one 427 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: has actually seen since then? Or was he mistaken? Did 428 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: he think he was seeing something that he actually wasn't 429 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: or was he making it up? I mean, I don't 430 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,159 Speaker 1: want to think he was making it up, but I 431 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: guess we have to consider that as a possibility. Yeah, 432 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: and we'll we'll touch on that some of the thinking 433 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: on that a little later. But but one thing we 434 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: should go ahead and drive home here is that again, 435 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: the bathosphere did not have an engine on it. It 436 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 1: did not have propellers. It was a very silent affair 437 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,360 Speaker 1: in a realm where where sound truly carries and can 438 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: have damaging effects. Especially our modern uh are, our modern 439 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: state of affairs with with with ships and sonar, but 440 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: even just a noisy submarine would have potentially scared away 441 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: various species. So there is an argument to be made 442 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: here that the bathosphere, as it's descending rather silently and 443 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:41,920 Speaker 1: at times uh an incomplete darkness, would have attracted or 444 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 1: been or at least would not have have frightened away 445 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: species that would recoil from a modern exploratory submarine. That's interesting, 446 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: and that's that's a good point to keep in mind 447 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: as we go on and discuss some more of the 448 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,879 Speaker 1: things he recorded seeing. I think if you have the 449 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: ability while you're listening, you should look up some of 450 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: the art works of Elsa Bostelman. She was again one 451 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: of the artists who was doing sketches for for BB's team, 452 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 1: and so it would be great to have some of 453 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: those in front of your eyes while we're talking here. Now, 454 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,199 Speaker 1: another variety of fish that BB reported seeing are the 455 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: dragon fish. These are different than sea dragons, right quote 456 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: a six inch dragonfish or still Maya's past lights first 457 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: visible than three seconds of searchlight for identification, then lights alone. 458 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: And there seemed no reason why we should not swing 459 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: the door open and swing swim out. Now I can 460 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: think of various reasons not to do that, bab, But 461 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: I understand that he's trying to capture his excitement here. 462 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: It's the deep sea version of the thing, like you know, 463 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: the sudden desire to the call of the void, right yeah, yeah, 464 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: or the desire to like swerve into oncoming traffic. So 465 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: he was this was his guests that these were dragonfish. 466 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: And again we have to put ourselves in the bathmosphere 467 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: and imagine peering out through these tiny uh courtz lenses 468 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 1: at at things just swimming by, sometimes lingering but maybe not, 469 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: sometimes wholly visible for a few seconds, sometimes only partially visible. 470 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: But he guessed that these were some variety of dragonfish. Uh. 471 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: And the particular species that he was describing was unknown 472 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: to science at the time, but he was familiar with 473 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: other species of stomias. Now he apparently reported seeing a 474 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: six foot dragonfish as well as a marine biologist and 475 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: author Richard Ellis discusses in his book Singing Whales and 476 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,360 Speaker 1: Flying Squid the discovery of marine life. So to put 477 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 1: that in perspective, uh, I believe the largest known dragonfish 478 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: at the time was a mere fifteen inches in length. Wow. 479 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: I mean, if you look up what dragonfish look like 480 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: they are. It is terrifying to imagine a six foot 481 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: long one. It's kind of like uh. In fact, I 482 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,199 Speaker 1: would compare it very much to the discovery of the 483 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: six ft long Cambrian predator Anomali carras right. Uh. That 484 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: the idea that something that creepy could get that big 485 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: is really disturbing. Yeah. So these these creatures were members 486 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,440 Speaker 1: of the order Stomaformes, which also includes the viper fish, 487 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: which Bebe also notes on his dives. Now, in the 488 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: introduction uh to the novel Starfish Uh, the author Peter Watts, 489 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: who was also also as a marine biology background, he 490 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: mentions bb having reported a seven foot viper fish. Now, 491 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 1: I don't I don't doubt Wat's in this, but I 492 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: can't personally find a reference to this particular sighting. But 493 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,360 Speaker 1: then again, I didn't look at all of the scientific 494 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,640 Speaker 1: papers that that baby put out over the years. But 495 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: but he certainly mentions viperfish in his biography and the 496 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: idea if you look up a picture of a viperfish, again, 497 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: it's very much like like the dragonfish. This, uh, this 498 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: sharp tooth, long, fierce, eel like creature. And to imagine 499 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,679 Speaker 1: a seven foot version of this a swimming past you 500 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,239 Speaker 1: as you're cramped in your steel beach ball. It's just 501 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 1: terrifying to imagine. Well, it swims up to the window 502 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: to say, hey, I'm here to vaush and vipe your windows. 503 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: What is that from? Oh, you don't remember that story 504 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: the Viper? No? I think it was in It was 505 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: in that book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. No, 506 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: I remember the book, or at least the illustration. Yeah, well, 507 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: bad joke if it didn't land. Sorry, I mean no, no, no, 508 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: I mean there's a story called the Viper about a 509 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: guy who keeps calling on the phone who says like, 510 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: I am the Viper and I'm coming, And somebody gets 511 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: really scared because the Viper is coming. And then finally 512 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: when the viper gets there, he says he's there to 513 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: vaush and vipe the windows because he's really the viper. Right, Okay, No, 514 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:36,199 Speaker 1: I think the joke will work for people who know 515 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: the reference. I just didn't catch it. Jokes are always 516 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 1: better when you spend a few minutes explaining him, you know. 517 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's move on to another sighting that 518 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: BB reported that of the Great Fish, and I believe 519 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: we read a little bit from this one at the 520 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: top of the first episode. Oh yeah, yeah, So what 521 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: was this great fish? Well, he describes it essentially, it's 522 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: just this wall of flesh passing him by and the 523 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: ain't light, something that he guess to be about twenty 524 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: ft long, and it could have been a number of things. 525 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: So he he thinks it might have been some manner 526 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: of whale, and it could have been It could have 527 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: been a sperm whale for instance, which is, as we've 528 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: discussed on the show in our Leviathan episode, is a 529 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: large creature and it can and it can dive much 530 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 1: deeper than the bathmosphere and can get much bigger than 531 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: correct yes, uh now, However, it's also been brought up 532 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: so that it could have been some kind of a 533 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 1: deep sea shark, because in ninetive marine biologists managed a 534 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: glimpse and photograph six skill sharks at a depth of 535 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: the two thousand, four hundred and sixty ft and and 536 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: so Ellis suggests that it's possible that Beebe could have 537 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: seen this, or perhaps a deep sea shark such as 538 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: the Greenland shark, whose range apparently includes Bermudo's waters. Okay, 539 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: now you know one of everybody's favorite deep sea creatures is, 540 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: of course the Tricksie angler fish. Oh yes, because the 541 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: image of the angler fish with its large, gaping mouth 542 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: and sharp teeth, and then that that that strange bioluminescent 543 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,320 Speaker 1: lure that hangs in front of it. I mean, it's 544 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: just such an amazing looking creature. And that's without even 545 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: getting into it's extremely bizarre reproductive methods with the tiny male. 546 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: The tiny male that's like a little reproductive heat seeker 547 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: that infuses with their body. Yeah, we've discussed that on 548 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: the show before, but he did have a run in 549 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: with the angler fish. Here's another quote from half mile 550 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: down quote. Another interesting fish on this trip was one 551 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: which I saw by the light of our electric beam 552 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: at nine feet on the way up. It was one 553 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: of the true giant female anglerfish, a full two feet 554 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 1: in length, with enormous mouth and teeth, deep and thick, 555 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: with a long tentacle arising from the top of its head. 556 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: I saw no light from this, but it was distinct 557 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: for a moment in the surrounding illumination. Twice its mouth 558 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: opened and partially shut, and then we passed out of 559 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: its life. Three of these weird fish have been taken 560 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: dead at the surface, but three years of intensive trawling 561 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: have given us no hint of their presence here. For 562 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: a few seconds, I was within ten feet of one, 563 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: and the memory will never leave me. Yeah, I'd guess 564 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 1: in the steel ball in the deep you make a 565 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: lot of memories, alright. So one of the things we've 566 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: discussed here is that so many many of these sightings 567 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: were can definitely be backed up. Many of these sightings 568 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: were of creatures that are known to science, and we 569 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: have specimens for them. But there's a mystery. Yeah, I 570 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: mean it is necessarily subjective reporting. Like we said, the 571 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: photography of the time could not capture things. So now 572 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: if you take a deep sea subdown, you can videotape 573 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 1: the whole thing, so you can prove what you saw 574 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: when you came back here, we have to rely on 575 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,719 Speaker 1: the word of the people who were in the bathmosphere 576 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: looking out right, and that led even scientists at the 577 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: time to question some of it. So if theologists Carl Hubbs, 578 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: for instance, he had some issues with the reported bioluminescence, 579 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: and he suggested in nineteen thirty three quote, I am 580 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: forced to suggest that whatever the author saw might have 581 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: been a phosphorescency linter rate whose lights were beautified by 582 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: halation in passing through a misty film breathed onto the 583 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: quartz window by Mr BB's eagerly oppressed faith. I like 584 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: the snooty voice you give hubs there, Well, I get 585 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: I do get a very like snooty intellectual, like stuffy 586 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: academic vibe here saying who is this this science popularizer? Uh, 587 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: you know, without an advanced degree, daring to report on 588 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: the secrets of the deep. Yeah, I mean you're naturally 589 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: I think a modern person is sort of naturally inclined 590 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: to be on BB side here, especially because of like 591 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: we see him being criticized for non legitimate reasons, like 592 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: you're hiring women researchers that you know that's a nonsense. 593 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: So you you kind of like naturally want to say, like, Okay, 594 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: if people are coming at him with criticisms, they're out fair, 595 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: but some criticisms might be fair while other ones aren't. Yeah, 596 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: I mean it comes back around the fact that we 597 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: are depending upon his observations and the observations of Otis 598 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: and and in many cases one it's not like both 599 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: of them saw the same thing. They're looking out of 600 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,840 Speaker 1: different windows. There are several cases where Baby says, oh, 601 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: and then Otis saw this creature, and I really wish 602 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: I could have seen it, but I didn't, Or likewise, 603 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: it's something that only bb saw and Otis was looking 604 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: at something else. Now, in all of this, I'm personally 605 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: inclined to believe Bbe, or at least I really want 606 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,360 Speaker 1: to believe him, and I and I have. I have 607 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: not conducted in like an exhaustive analysis of his personality 608 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: or anything, but based on what we've read about him 609 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: and his work, he seems to be to have been 610 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: a very meticulous researcher who cared about accurately presenting uh, 611 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: what was going on in the ocean. Well, Ellis had 612 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: an opinion on that, right did he does? Yees? So 613 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: Ella rites quote. It is possible that Bebe was the 614 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: only person ever to see these mysterious creatures. It is 615 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: also possible that he made them up. But although he 616 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: wrote very cleverly and well, there is very little in 617 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: his published work to indicate that he was a practical 618 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,839 Speaker 1: joker now to play Devil's advocate, though Ellis does point 619 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: out that Bab might have possibly joked at one point 620 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: about lights being those of quote a giant toadfish, and 621 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: that perhaps BB, having neither a graduate or undergraduate degree, 622 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,879 Speaker 1: wanted to quote put one over on the academics. Uh, 623 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,919 Speaker 1: and it's it's It's also worth noting that he would 624 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 1: have not been the first to play such a prank. 625 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,799 Speaker 1: Ellis points to a nineteen thirty three prank by Australian 626 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 1: a theologist Gilbert Whitley, and he makes the point that 627 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: BB would have known that his observations were fairly safe 628 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: for the Fresievil future. So, in other words, he could 629 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,320 Speaker 1: have made something up and known that, hey, if future 630 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: explorers come down to the same part of the ocean, 631 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: the same depth and they don't see it, that in 632 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,920 Speaker 1: no way disproves what I'm claiming to have seen his 633 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: reports quote would it would enter the literature as they 634 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:12,319 Speaker 1: have done, with virtually no possibility of being discounted. It is, 635 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: after all, one of the basic tenets of cryptozoology that 636 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:20,799 Speaker 1: negative evidence cannot be disproved, a fact beloved by chupacabra 637 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,840 Speaker 1: movie purveyors everywhere. So Ellis stresses that, look, we we 638 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,839 Speaker 1: simply don't know another thousand or ten thousand dives might 639 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: be required to to really prove any of this out. 640 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 1: But he says that the very fact that that that 641 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: that some of these specimens have not been seen since 642 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:40,360 Speaker 1: Bebe that that casts their existence into doubt. But now, also, 643 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 1: as I think we have said before, Bebe did see 644 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: some things that were not known about at the time 645 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: but have since been verified. Yeah. I mean in the 646 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,759 Speaker 1: vast majority of the deep sea fishes he describes are 647 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: confirmed by specimens uh. And in one case, the quote 648 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: untouchable bathosphere fish uh did turn out to be a 649 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,640 Speaker 1: species of dragonfish later found to inhabit the middle layers 650 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,919 Speaker 1: of the ocean where he reported them. So for many 651 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,880 Speaker 1: of these great creatures, perhaps we simply haven't seen them. Again, 652 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 1: the ocean is a big place and one that contains 653 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,439 Speaker 1: plenty of mystery. Perhaps these species have suffered or gone 654 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 1: extinct due to the due to the damage that humans 655 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: have inflicted on the ocean. That's highly possible, yeah, Or 656 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: as we've discussed, perhaps these creatures were more easily seen 657 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:26,520 Speaker 1: by the silent, motorless bathmosphere as it descended through the depths. 658 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: The aquatic environment, after all, is quite vulnerable to sound 659 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 1: and to go back into the differences of the general 660 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: methods of of sampling the depths you you if you've 661 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,359 Speaker 1: got the Gilgamesh method and the eb zoom method. There 662 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,280 Speaker 1: are plenty of species that are not very easily picked 663 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 1: up by various kinds of Ebba zoom methods. Like whether 664 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: you're trawling with the net or trying to drag dredge along, 665 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:52,920 Speaker 1: whatever you're doing, there's some species that just tend not 666 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: to get caught like that. Yeah, Now, one thing I 667 00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:57,560 Speaker 1: do want to throw in here is that in some 668 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,360 Speaker 1: of these discussions of of the more mysterious creatures, it 669 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: tends to it tends to fall into extremes. Right, either 670 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: he definitely saw something that we have not seen since, 671 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,799 Speaker 1: or he just made it up without really without really 672 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,480 Speaker 1: addressing the fact that there are a number of possible 673 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: variations between those two extremes. I mean, it was dark 674 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: down there, it was dark. They're they're just getting glimpses 675 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: of things. So I would I would counter with, isn't 676 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:25,600 Speaker 1: it possible that he saw some of these things but 677 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:30,320 Speaker 1: misjudged their size, that he later remembered them a little differently, 678 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: Like I don't think it is necessary for for b 679 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:37,319 Speaker 1: B to be a prankster or a liar for him 680 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,879 Speaker 1: to have misreported something that he that he thought he saw. Oh, 681 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,280 Speaker 1: I totally agree there, yea. And so you know, speaking 682 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 1: for myself, I'm not inclined to really entertain some of 683 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: these more nefarious interpretations of his observations. I was a 684 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: little thrown when he saw the crack in the size 685 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: of an island. Wait, that wasn't b B. I'm always 686 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: confusing BB with those medieval Norwegians. Well, this does raise 687 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: the question if he if he was to make something up, 688 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 1: like why didn't he go even broader with his descriptions. Yeah, 689 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,400 Speaker 1: but I don't know that. Again, we're getting into into 690 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 1: areas of pure speculation here. Well, I I like this 691 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: because it sort of brings us back to the fact 692 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,920 Speaker 1: that we were discussing earlier and in the last episode 693 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,399 Speaker 1: about how we know a lot more about the deep 694 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 1: than we used to, but we still don't know tons 695 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: of stuff about the deep oceans. The deep oceans are 696 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,080 Speaker 1: it's almost a cliche to say now because people emphasize 697 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 1: it so much, but it's very true. They're they're entirely 698 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:36,839 Speaker 1: alien to us. We know very little about them. Yeah, 699 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:42,359 Speaker 1: it's it's been reported that of the ocean is unexplored. Uh. 700 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,399 Speaker 1: And and and that's to say it hasn't even been 701 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,720 Speaker 1: seen with human eyes. Yeah, I know there are various 702 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:50,919 Speaker 1: ways of people disputing that figure, but suffice to say 703 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,719 Speaker 1: that even large portions of the ocean that are sort 704 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 1: of roughly mapped have not actually been seen. Yeah. As 705 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 1: of two thousand fourteen, less than point zero five percent 706 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,560 Speaker 1: of the ocean floor had been mapped to a level 707 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: of detail useful for detecting items such as the wreckage 708 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:13,279 Speaker 1: of airplanes or the spires of undersea volcanic vents. And 709 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,800 Speaker 1: I've seen a higher stat in recent years. For instance, 710 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,440 Speaker 1: according to the Unseen Oceans exhibit at the American Museum 711 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,040 Speaker 1: of Natural History, only ten to fiftcent of the sea 712 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:27,120 Speaker 1: floor is revealed to us inaccuracy. And in either case, 713 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,359 Speaker 1: ultimately we know more about the surface of Mars than 714 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,640 Speaker 1: the sea floor of our own planet. Part of the 715 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:34,160 Speaker 1: issue there, of course, is that we can't use satellites 716 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,759 Speaker 1: uh to map the sea floor in the same way 717 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,720 Speaker 1: that we can use satellites to map the surface of Mars. 718 00:39:40,239 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: We have to depend on things like sonar and to 719 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:45,400 Speaker 1: to do it. Yeah, But at the same time, as 720 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 1: we've said, we know a lot more than we used 721 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: to and it's exciting that there is so much more 722 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 1: to learn. Indeed, and I think that's why we keep 723 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,200 Speaker 1: coming back to the ocean. On Stuff to Blow Your Mind, 724 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 1: we talk about the mysteries of outer space, we talk 725 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: about the mysteries of the inner mind, and of course 726 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,400 Speaker 1: we're going to keep talking about the mysteries of the ocean. 727 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 1: I mean, there's no dragonfish in space. It's true, like 728 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 1: the ocean is the mysterious realm in which we know 729 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,399 Speaker 1: there is alien life and keep discovering new forms. There 730 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: may be dragonfish in the mind, yes, oh, undoubtedly they're 731 00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:21,280 Speaker 1: dragonfish in the mind. But but in in the ocean 732 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:23,879 Speaker 1: we can actually pull them up and uh and poke 733 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,160 Speaker 1: at them. Though how much better to go down and 734 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 1: observe them in the natural habitat rather than pulling them up. 735 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,440 Speaker 1: And so that's the legacy of William bb in the bathmosphere. 736 00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:36,799 Speaker 1: That's right, the modern Gilgamesh. You should put it all right, Well, hey, 737 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:38,879 Speaker 1: be sure to check out Stuff to Blow your Mind 738 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: dot com. That's where you'll find this episode, the previous episode, 739 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,759 Speaker 1: and all the other episodes of the podcast. As well 740 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:46,759 Speaker 1: as blog posts and links out to our various social 741 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: media accounts. Thanks as always to our audio producers Alex 742 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,319 Speaker 1: Williams and Torry Harrison. If you would like to get 743 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,480 Speaker 1: in touch with us to let us know feedback about 744 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,880 Speaker 1: this episode or any other episode, to let us know 745 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,680 Speaker 1: a topic you think maybe we should cover in a 746 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:01,880 Speaker 1: few sure, just to say hi and let us know 747 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,719 Speaker 1: your your thoughts. You can email us at blow the 748 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: Mind at how stuff works dot com for more onness 749 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff works 750 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:30,799 Speaker 1: dot com bo