1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, the production of 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Land, and I'm Joe McCormick. In Today, 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,319 Speaker 1: we're gonna be diving into the ocean to take a 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: look at slime, froth, ooze, and mucus of various kinds. 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: And I thought maybe a good way to get in 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,639 Speaker 1: the mood for this kind of discussion would be to 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: do a couple of literary readings, perhaps rob if your game. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,639 Speaker 1: When I was thinking about this topic, something immediately came 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 1: to mind. I remember there was some passage from Walt 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: Whitman in which he identified very strongly and emotionally with 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: becoming a bit of ooze, froth and debris washing in 13 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: the surf. Do do you mind if I read a 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: bit of Walt Whitman here? Yeah, go for it. Okay. 15 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: So this is from his poem that I think the 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: title has just taken from the first line, mis called 17 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: as I ebbed with the Ocean of Life. The whole 18 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: poem is too long to read, but I'm just going 19 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: to read for the fourth section here, where he really 20 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: talks about becoming the use ebb ocean of life, The 21 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: flow will return. Cease, not your moaning, you fierce old mother, 22 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: endlessly cry for your castaways. But fear not deny, not me, rustle, 23 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: not up so hoarse and angry against my feet. As 24 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: I touch you or gather from you, I mean tenderly 25 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: by you and all I gather for myself and for 26 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: this phantom, looking down where we lead, and following me 27 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: and mine, me and mine. Loose wind rows, little corpses, 28 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: froth snowy white and bubbles. See from my dead lips, 29 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: the ooze exuding at last, See the prismatic colors, glistening 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: and rolling, tufts of straw, sand, fragments buoyed hither from 31 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: many moods, one contradicting another, from the storm, the long calm, 32 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: the darkness, the swell, musing, pondering a breath, a briny tear, 33 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: a dab of liquid or soil up just as much 34 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: out of fathomless workings, fermented and thrown, a limp blossom 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: or two, torn just as much over the waves, floating, 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: drifted at random, just as much for us that sobbing 37 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: dirge of nature. Just as much whence we come that 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: blair of the cloud trumpets, we capricious, brought hither we 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: know not WinCE spread out before you. You up there 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: walking or sitting, whoever you are, we two lie in 41 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: drifts at your feet. Oh man, Whitman. Uh. Feeling a 42 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: little moody in that one. Yeah, this is weird because 43 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: I mean, Whitman has his his darker moods, but I 44 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: feel like this is definitely one of the more downer 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: Whitman moments. A lot of times he finds a way 46 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: to surge back up, but that's the end of the poem. 47 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: It kind of ends on a down note. Though. Weirdly, 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: even when Whitman is feeling down, you can still you 49 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: can tell he still has that universal connectedness perspective. He 50 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: still is every molecule of everything in the ocean, even 51 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: all the debris and ooze and froth and sand and trash. Yeah. No, 52 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: that's that's that's really good. And uh. And when you 53 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: initially brought this up and I was reading it, I 54 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: was like, oh man, this is this is reminding me 55 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: of something, not that it's reminding me of something specific, 56 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: but just sort of a similar vibe. And it got 57 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: me thinking about h G wells uh uh. It's particularly 58 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: I can't remember if it's when the time traveler goes 59 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: to the very end of time or the very beginning, 60 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: but he encounters kind of like, you know, this this 61 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: sludge like dark world of of slimy life. I don't 62 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: remember either way. Well, he goes towards the end, when 63 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: he goes the farthest in the future, it's when he 64 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: encounters that the world has just crabs. It's like, remember 65 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: those those big like arthropod type creatures. But maybe he 66 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: also goes back in time. Maybe that's working on the 67 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: the old school primordial ooze kind of idea of the 68 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: origins of life. Yeah, And you see this pop up 69 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: in weird fiction of the twentieth century as well, particularly 70 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: in the works of of Clark Ashton Smith, who was 71 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: a writer of weird dark fantasy tales and it was 72 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: also a poet and uh and I believe later in 73 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: life he worked with like sculpture. But but I was 74 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: looking up, like, what was what's a nice slimy ocean 75 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: bit from Clark Ashton Smith? And I found a really 76 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: good one from a story titled The Light from the Pole. 77 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: And I'm not sure when this was written. I don't 78 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: think it was actually published until after his death. But 79 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: I'm just going to read a quick paragraph from this 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: if you don't mind, go for it. Through the middle summer, 81 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 1: the fisher folk who dwelt in wattle huts below the 82 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: tall towers of far Azan went forth daily in their 83 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: coracles of hide and willow, and cast their nets in 84 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: the accustomed manner of their trade. But all that they 85 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: gathered from the sea was dead and withered, as if 86 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: in the blast of great coldness, such as would emanate 87 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: from the trans Arctic ice. And they drew forth from 88 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: their signs. Living monsters as well, such as the eldest captains, 89 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: had never beheld things triple headed and tailed and thinned 90 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: with horror, black shapeless things that turned a liquid foulness 91 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: and ran from the net like a vile i corps, 92 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: or headless shapes like bloated moons with green frozen rays 93 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: about them, or things leprous side and bearded with stiffly 94 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: using slime. It was as if some transdimensional and long 95 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: blocked channel beneath the known familiar seas of Earth had 96 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: opened suddenly into the strange waters of ultra mundane oceans, 97 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: teeming with repulsive and malformed life. Wow, well that goes 98 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: to supernatural dimensions, but at the same time still connects 99 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: very much to the topic we're gonna be talking about today. Yeah. Oh, 100 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: and by the way, if some of you are wanting ultramundane, 101 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: that just sounds like even more mundane than usual. It 102 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: actually means the opposite. Ultra mundane means like from beyond 103 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: the solar system. Oh. I would not have known that. Yeah, 104 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: it threw me for your curve at first, because I'm like, oh, 105 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: the ultramundane man that must be and that's that's just supermunday, 106 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: but now especially average. But anyway, on these themes of 107 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: slime and mucus, it got me thinking about this question, 108 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: like what does life from the microscopic level to the 109 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,039 Speaker 1: plants and the megafauna all have in common. Well, one 110 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: thing that is common to most life, especially most life 111 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: that lives in the water, is mucus or slime. You know, 112 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: some kind of like slimy substances, viscous, slimy, lubricating kinds 113 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: of substances in the body are really some of the 114 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: keystones of organic life. I was thinking about how, uh, 115 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: there was one time when I was in high school 116 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 1: and I remember being present for a a sermon that 117 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: was preached on the verse in the Bible about how 118 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: the blood is the life, and the point of the 119 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: sermon was that was that that statement the blood is 120 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: the life in the Bible is scientifically accurate, which, on reflection, 121 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: this kind of a funny claim to make. I mean, 122 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: I guess that's true. Like if you remove all the 123 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: blood from something, it doesn't live anymore. Um. But but 124 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:03,679 Speaker 1: I started thinking about how the slime is the life. 125 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: The mucus is the life because you've got micro organisms 126 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: of course that secrete ouzy mucus like substances called mucilage. 127 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: But you can also find that implants if you break 128 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: a stalk of succulent, it will leak a viscous mucilage too. Yeah, 129 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: I mean, we could easily do an entire podcast series, 130 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: if not an entire podcast period on slime because you 131 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: look at that, I mean, you just look at the 132 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,559 Speaker 1: ways the importance of slime and the human body, you know, uh, 133 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: and it's it's it's greatly important. Look at some of 134 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: the very unique creatures that utilize slime so well. Um, 135 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: the hag fish, for example, that we've discussed numerous times 136 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: a true wizard of slime um, a sorcerer of uze 137 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: that that is able to to to utilize this uh, 138 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: this this thick, slimy substance that it that it exudes um, 139 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: you know, so so wonderfully as a self defense mechanism. Yeah. 140 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: And the truly amazing thing about the hag fish is 141 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: how much of it it can create and how fast. Yeah. 142 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: Another big one is the slime that you encounter as 143 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: the very outer layer of fish in the ocean. You know, 144 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: like this is it's not just something that is on 145 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: their body. It is something of their body, but it 146 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: serves as an outer layer. Um. So you know, when 147 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: you're when you're handling a fish, even if you're catching 148 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: and releasing, if you're disrupting that that outer layer, you're 149 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: disrupting some of the protections afforded to the organism. Now, 150 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: but of course there's plenty of internal use for slime 151 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: and mucus and ooze as well, because if you think 152 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: about inside your body, tons of your organs and surfaces 153 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: and tissues are lined with mucus of various sorts that 154 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: are very important for your body. I mean, you've got 155 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,559 Speaker 1: mucus in your nose, mucus and all kinds all kinds 156 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: of parts, so you But of course, I guess one 157 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: thing we should recognize is that we are speaking kind 158 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: of loosely in a general sense about similar types of 159 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,719 Speaker 1: substances with similar physical properties that are not all necessarily 160 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: the same thing. They're not created by the same by 161 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: a chemical pathways always uh, you know, they come from 162 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: different kinds of life. But in this loose sense, almost 163 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: all life has some kind of slime or or ooz 164 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: or goo or mucus. In common life just kind of 165 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: makes mucus. Yeah, I mean, that's that's really the secret 166 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: of the is right there. But today we wanted to 167 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: look at this question of what happens when the mucus 168 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: gets out of hand, what happens when it becomes a 169 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: plague like mass that is not not merely inside the body, 170 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: not merely on the body, not merely uh, floating around 171 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: in little tiny clumps in the ocean, but when it 172 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: comes to dominate the geography and you can see it 173 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: from airplanes. That's what we're going to talk about today. 174 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: So shout out that I got the idea to talk 175 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: about this today when I came across an article in 176 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: The Atlantic by Sarah Jong called a slimy calamity is 177 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: creeping across the sea. And this article is about an 178 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: organic substance that has been referred to in the scientific 179 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: terature as marine mucilage, but it is more commonly known 180 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: to uh people in the fishing industry and people who 181 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: have encountered it firsthand as things like see snot or 182 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: see saliva. And the article is about how this stuff 183 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: has lately become an absolute plague near the shores of Turkey, 184 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: specifically in a place called the Sea of Marmara, which 185 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: is in northwest Turkey, and it's the body of water 186 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: that connects the A G n C on the west 187 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: to the Black Sea on the on the northeast. And 188 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,559 Speaker 1: so if you have not already read any articles about 189 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: this stuff or seen pictures of it, this one is 190 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: really worth looking up to see with your own eyes. 191 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: In fact, there is an astonishing photo gallery on the 192 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: website of The Atlantic right now. It was posted June 193 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: one called photos Turkey ce snot Disaster. So I'd highly 194 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: recommend checking this out if you can, but we will 195 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: try to describe a few of these images here for 196 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: those of you who can't go look it up right now, 197 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:02,839 Speaker 1: and Rob, I've got these here for you to look 198 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: at as well. So I pulled a few of them. 199 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: This first one was a photo taken by Mohammed Ennis 200 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: Yielder Rim and it's an aerial photo from June one 201 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: of all these boats in the water off the shore 202 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: of Istanbul. And it looks like they're floating in one 203 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: of those buckets that people used to make tie dye 204 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: t shirts. Except instead of all the colors of the rainbow, 205 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: it's just various hues of off white and tan. It's 206 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: this giant, floating, swirling, starry night of beige slime. Yeah, 207 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: this is I think this is a Getty image as well, 208 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: from the Getty website. But it is um it it's 209 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: really beautiful. If not, and if I didn't know what 210 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: it was, I would just assume that this was a 211 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 1: painting because it looks like some sort of a surreal 212 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: uh you know, oil painted ocean upon which the artist 213 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: has depicted realistic looking um depictions of hips and boats. Well, 214 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: another way I could view it is again, because this 215 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: is from a great distance, it is kind of beautiful. 216 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: It also looks like boats that maybe somehow all became 217 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: beached on a vast stretch of sand. So like if 218 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: like if the ocean retreated and left all these boats 219 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: stranded in the dunes with these drifts and current like 220 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: patterns all swirling around them, and they were just sitting 221 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 1: in the sand. I I could see that being a 222 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: what this is, But no, they are on the surface 223 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,719 Speaker 1: of the water. And also I worry for them if 224 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: they must start their engines. As we'll get to uh 225 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: a bit later on about about some of the problems 226 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: that the stuff causes for for powered boats. But as 227 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: beautiful as this might look from above, as kind of 228 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: like weirdly, I don't know at that that that boundary 229 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: line between gross and beautiful when you get up close, 230 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: it really does get more just obviously disgusting. So this 231 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: next image is of a diver surfacing from under neath 232 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: a large mat of marine mucilage. This one was taken 233 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: by Sir Haat Kagdas for the Anadolue Agency, which is 234 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: a Turkish state media organization, and according to the caption, 235 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: this person is involved in a marine mucilage cleanup operation 236 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: at a Kata Boston beach, which is also in in 237 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: Istanbul Or off the shore of Istanbul and this is 238 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: from June of twenty one also. But if if you're 239 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: trying to imagine the texture of this stuff up close 240 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: from this image here, it looks kind of like if 241 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: you've ever tried to make beef stock, or like a 242 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: pork raman broth. All of the scum that rises to 243 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: the top of the pot as the impurities are are 244 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,239 Speaker 1: removed at first from the bones and the connecting tissues. 245 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: That that stuff that floats up there, except add into 246 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: that like some wilted toilet paper and alo vera gel. Yeah, 247 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: that that is a good description um. Another way might 248 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: be to imagine if you've filled a crop pot like 249 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: a pressure cooker with cauliflower and then cooked it way 250 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: too long where you just turned it to mush. Like 251 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: that's what this kind of looks like. Yeah, so up close, 252 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: a lot of the beauty has gone and it becomes 253 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: frankly revolting. But I want to come back on the 254 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: beautiful side because also in this photo gallery they had 255 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: one that's an underwater image, and one of the things 256 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: that came through is I started to read more and 257 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: more about this stuff is how in a lot, in 258 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: some sense, you can't really appreciate what it is unless 259 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: you look at views of it from underwater, because, for example, 260 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: a lot of scientists had been trying to study this 261 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: stuff for years, but we're having trouble because the equipment 262 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: that they used to retrieve samples from the water would 263 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: end up churning it up and shaking it up. That 264 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: would kind of destroy its structure. So to really see 265 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: what form it takes as it's just floating in the 266 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: water column you have, you kind of have to go 267 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: down yourself or see pictures taken from beneath the surface. 268 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: So this one picture was by Sebnim Costcoon, also for 269 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: the Nadolu agency, and uh, it's an underwater photo of 270 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: a diver in the Sea of Marmara near at stand Bull. 271 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: Again from this one's from May. And this one looks 272 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: to me like a scene from a Forbidden Planet type 273 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: vintage sci fi movie. The water is dimly lit but 274 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:30,119 Speaker 1: extremely green, and the diver has these twin work lamps 275 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: that it looks kind of like, you know, crewman Hicks 276 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: has wandered into an alien spider web. And so there's 277 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: just this translucent matrix of goop enveloping everything spun right 278 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: out of the she lob of the sea. Yeah, and 279 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: I guess it drives home. You can't tell, really tough 280 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: on the image how deep the individual is, but yet 281 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: you certainly get the sense that this is not a 282 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,119 Speaker 1: mere merely a surface phenomena. This is something that extends 283 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: at least somewhat into the water column. Right, And we'll 284 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: get into more detail as we go on about how 285 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: that happens. I think they're there are different stages depending 286 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: on the conditions that that cause it to float or 287 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: stay suspended in the water column. Um. But we'll explain 288 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: that as we go on. One last photo I thought 289 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: we should look at before we move on, Rob. Is 290 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: this one of workers trying to vacuum this stuff up 291 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: with hoses? I think this is again nearest stenbul Uh 292 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: in the Marmara. See this is from June uh And 293 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: the stuff here that's going up into the hose looks 294 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: very much like overflow from a sewer clean out. Yeah, 295 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: or big cat vomit, A lot of cat vomit. Maybe, oh, 296 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: big cat vomit. You mean, like the vomit is big 297 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: or like from a big cat, like a lion talking. 298 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: I'm talking like big time cat cat vomit here, like 299 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: like cat vomit, so expansive that Peter Gabriel write a 300 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: song about it for real cat vomit. One of the 301 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: articles I was reading about this had a really good 302 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:59,400 Speaker 1: physical description. It was by Selene Ugertash, writing for the 303 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: The for The Guardian in May one and you. Gurtash 304 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,400 Speaker 1: said that when seen from above, it looks like a 305 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: brush of beige swirled across the dark blue waters of 306 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: the Sea of Marmara. Up close it resembles a creamy, 307 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: gelatinous blanket of Quicksand yeah, so from the air looks 308 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: like a cappuccino ocean, like the surface of a cappuccino. 309 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,680 Speaker 1: Up close, it looks it just looks gross, very grass. Now. 310 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: In that article in The Atlantic by Sarah Jong, she 311 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: talks about different names for the different types of accumulations 312 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: of it. So you've got what's known as marine snow. 313 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: That's a that's a phenomenon that ultimately connects to marine muselage. 314 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: But these are of course tiny little flakes and droplets 315 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 1: that are usually drifting slowly down towards the sea floor. Uh, 316 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: they're They're found in the ocean all the time, just 317 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: the little flakes little bits of life they're drifting around. 318 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: But then when when the marine muselage starts to accumulate, 319 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: you've got these things called stringers, which she's says resemble 320 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: a kind of sticky goo. This is more actually similar 321 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: in appearance to human nasal mucus. But then you've also 322 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: got clouds, which are maybe more like you know that 323 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: maybe when the stringers come together they form clouds. It's 324 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: more like that giant spider web under the surface of 325 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: the water. Uh. They're they're delicate and they break apart 326 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: when you touch them, but they just form these big, 327 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: sort of translucent white masses floating in the water. So 328 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: I guess we should get more into describing the phenomenon 329 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: of of what's actually happening here. I mentioned that this 330 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: is something that's going on in Turkey right now, specifically 331 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: in the Sea of Marmara, but marine mucilage is a 332 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: broader phenomenon than what's happening in Turkey right now, both 333 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: in terms of time and geography. So the Sea of 334 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: Marmara is not the only place that experiences surges of 335 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,440 Speaker 1: this stuff, and it's not the first time it has happened. 336 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 1: But the slime infestation at Marmora is especially bad this year, 337 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: and the problem does seemed to be getting worse in 338 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: the region over time. So I found a source illuminating 339 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: this as a scientific paper discussing marine mucilage in the 340 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: Adriatic Sea, which is nearby. It's in the Mediterranean. The 341 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: Adriatic is the stretch of sea between Italy and the Balkans. 342 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: And this is a paper by Roberto den Ovarro, Serena 343 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: Fonda Umani and Antonio pusque Do and it's called Climate 344 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: Change and the Potential Spreading of Marine mucilage and Microbial 345 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: Pathogens in the Mediterranean Sea. This was published in PLS 346 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: one in two thousand nine. This is a highly cited 347 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,439 Speaker 1: paper about marine mucilage. Most of the articles that I 348 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: was reading mentioned this paper at one point or another, 349 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: but in tracking the history of this stuff, they go 350 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,400 Speaker 1: all the way back to the eighteen century the author's 351 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: right quote. Worldwide, the highly productive and shallow Adriatic Sea, 352 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,919 Speaker 1: and particularly it's a northern portion within the Mediterranean Basin, 353 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: is the area most severely affected by the out break 354 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: of massive marine mucilage. Mucilage was reported here for the 355 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: first time in seventeen twenty nine, and was originally described 356 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: as a quote dirty c phenomenon, or in Italian that 357 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: would be mare Sporco, because it causes the clogging of 358 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: fishing nets. Uh. And I do like the name mare Sporko. 359 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because it sounds like 360 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: it has a porky element somehow. It could easily be 361 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: the name of a demon in Dante's Inferno. Oh yeah, 362 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 1: Mari Sporko hanging out with you know, the very with 363 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: the malacoda and all Malo Bronco or I might be 364 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: getting that name wrong. Bronco. Yeah, there's Malacoda in there. 365 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: And of course Scarmiglian, Scarbiglian, lots of good names. So 366 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: what would the dirty sea demon be? I mean, usually 367 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: they're more kind of like animals are personified. This would 368 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: be like the ocean itself is a demon, yeah, or 369 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,040 Speaker 1: just kind of a roughly humanoid form made out of 370 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,400 Speaker 1: this cease, not that we're describing, That's the way I'm 371 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,199 Speaker 1: picturing it. Yeah, So outbreaks of cease not, according to 372 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: the authors of this paper, have been occurring in the 373 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: Adriatic ever since, ever since they were observed, and you know, 374 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: possibly before that too, But it was first documented in 375 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty nine, and they've been recurring ever since, but 376 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: the frequency has increased sharply in the last thirty years 377 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: or so. And this paper was published in two thousand nine, 378 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: so that would mean since around nineteen eighty. And the 379 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: author is right about how once this stuff aggregates, an 380 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: outbreak of marine mucilage can stay floating on the surface 381 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: or suspended throughout the water column for around two to 382 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: three months, and then after that it tends to float 383 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: down and settle on the sea bottom. And there are 384 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 1: several reasons why the stuff is considered undesirable by humans. 385 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: Some of them are pretty obvious. They write, for example, 386 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 1: quote the presence of mucilage makes the seawater unsuitable for 387 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: bathing because of the bad smell produced and the adherents 388 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: of the mucilage on the skin of bathers. So it's 389 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: kind of like, I don't know, just like describing why 390 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: you wouldn't want to swim in water that has tons 391 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: of mucus floating on top of it. But I appreciate 392 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: that they spelled that out. Um. Now, of course I 393 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,719 Speaker 1: mentioned already that over time it tends to settle on 394 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: the sea floor. And once it's there the author's right quote, 395 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: these large aggregates coat the sediments, extending in certain cases 396 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: for kilometers and causing hypoxic and or anoxic conditions, which 397 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: of course means that the water is being depleted of 398 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: dissolved oxygen, which marine animals need in order to breathe. 399 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: And then they write quote the consequent suffocation of benthic organisms, 400 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: including bottom associated necton, provokes serious economical damage to tourism 401 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: and fisheries. And a noteier necton, these are some of 402 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: the organisms that are being affected. Necton means animals that 403 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: are strong swimmers that can move independent of water currents, 404 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: so this would be opposed to see floor organisms and 405 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: plankton that just float with the currents. So several bad 406 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: things about it. Obviously, it's bad for the local wildlife 407 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: because it can can smother them or suffocate them in 408 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: various ways. But it's also of course bad for humans, 409 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: not just because it kills all the wildlife, but because 410 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: it creates these bad conditions. Nobody wants to swim in 411 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: the water. It's unsightly, it hurts tourism, but also it 412 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: creates a big problem for boats and fisheries. Uh So 413 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 1: In Jong's article, she talks about how boats sometimes can't 414 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: go to sea when there's all this mucus floating around 415 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 1: because the mucus um it quote clogs up the seawater 416 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: intake that cools the motor. So if you've got all 417 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: this mucus going in where the motor is trying to 418 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: take in water for coolant, I guess that just clogs 419 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: it up and then the engine can't work. Yeah. So, 420 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 1: not even getting into how little you want to swim 421 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 1: in these waters, it impacts your ability to go out 422 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: in a boat and ish to use boats for certain 423 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: degrees of trade and travel. Um. Yeah, it's a problem 424 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: regarding the effect on the benthic organisms that are on 425 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,439 Speaker 1: the sea floor or rob I found a couple of 426 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: pictures just for you to look at that include a 427 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: starfish and one has a crab that are both apparently 428 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: just dead and smothered by this sea snot. They have 429 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: turned a kind of palid shade and are I don't 430 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: know what exactly about it killed them. Perhaps it's smothered 431 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: them or interfered with their ability to breathe, or maybe 432 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 1: it's uh it going through its decomposition cycle somehow removed 433 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: dissolved oxygen from the water that could be affecting them 434 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: as well. But yeah, it just looks generally very bad 435 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: for the what's living on the sea floor. Yeah, I 436 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: encourage everyone to look at these photos because it, yeah, 437 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: it's just it looks like zombified sea life. It's just 438 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 1: really ghastly. And the photography is is beautiful in its 439 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: own right. It's it's it's excellent photography, but it is 440 00:24:53,359 --> 00:25:02,640 Speaker 1: capturing something that is rather ghastly and disturbed. Thank you. Now, 441 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: we mentioned that a lot of the older documented outbreaks 442 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: of of marine mucilage mentioned in that two thousand nine 443 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: paper in PS one, we're in the Adriatic Sea, which 444 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: is of course different than the Sea of marmara Um. 445 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: Apparently there had not been outbreaks of marine mucilage reported 446 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: in Turkey before two thousand seven, but now, of course 447 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: that's where the big problem is situated. It seems like 448 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: some of the problem from the Adriatic has been alleviated 449 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: by some interventions that will talk about later on. But 450 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: this current outbreak of C SNOTS seems to have begun 451 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: in December of uh there's some of the early signs 452 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: of it where that fishermen were noticing that it was 453 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: preventing them from using their nets. I saw this thing 454 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: about the fisher nets mentioned in a lot of articles, 455 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 1: and I was trying to figure out exactly how it 456 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: makes the nets unusable. I couldn't nail that down for certain, though. 457 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: I think possibly what's going on is it makes the 458 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: nets too heavy, as it like sort clogs them up, 459 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: they don't really work. Or possibly it interferes with the 460 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: ability of water to pass freely through what's supposed to 461 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: be the holes in the nets. Yeah, you can easily 462 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,640 Speaker 1: imagine how it would turn a net into a parachute 463 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: made out of netting and slime. Yeah. Gross. And another 464 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,159 Speaker 1: thing is I actually saw this claim cited in an 465 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: article for The Washington Post by Antonio Neuri Farson, who 466 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: said that it's also sometimes making people wonder whether fish 467 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: that are successfully caught in the these not infested waters 468 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: are safe to eat. And there was no ruling on 469 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: whether they were or not. I don't know of any 470 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: reason why they wouldn't be, but at least said people 471 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: were worried about that. But it wasn't just people in 472 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: the fishing industry who started to notice this. This problem 473 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 1: with the new outbreak of marine mucilage. Also, it was 474 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: noticed by by scientists. There is one example cited in 475 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,040 Speaker 1: that article in The Guardian by Sillan you Gurtash and 476 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: and this one um this one refers to a scientist 477 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,360 Speaker 1: named Dr Barish ot Salp who is a marine biologist 478 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 1: at the China cal A Osakes Mart University. And uh 479 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: this researcher was diving to look at corals off the 480 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: China cal A straight and notice the extent of the 481 00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: sea saliva underneath the water and points out that it's 482 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: especially dangerous to immobile animals along the bottom of the ocean, 483 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,639 Speaker 1: like coral. Uh So, so Dr ot Salp here found 484 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:37,159 Speaker 1: that that the gold coral or Savalia savaglia and the 485 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: violeescent sea whip or Para murissa clavada were the most 486 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: armed by the cease not bloom. And then near the shoreline, 487 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: it of course threatens fish populations. There have been reports 488 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: that thousands of fish have turned up dead near coastal settlements. 489 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,199 Speaker 1: So it's bad stuff for the marine life. So just 490 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: out of disruption here, it's it's you know, we recently 491 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:05,200 Speaker 1: talked about the sargasm weed and and uh, and large 492 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,879 Speaker 1: quantities of that that that at times become a problem 493 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: for coastal communities, and and and actually creating some of 494 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: the same problems we've discussed here, making it difficult to 495 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: to to to leave in a boat that sort of thing, 496 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 1: making an unpleasant to visit the beach or be in 497 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:25,399 Speaker 1: the water. But in those cases, I mean, the sargasm 498 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: is still an environment that things are thriving in. And 499 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 1: this this seems like more of a total disruption of 500 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,680 Speaker 1: all the of the marine environment at all levels. Well, 501 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: it turns out there's evidence that something is thriving in here, 502 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: but it's not very helpful for the marine life around it. 503 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: So get more to that in just a moment. Uh. First, 504 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: I guess I wanted to talk about, like what actually 505 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: is this stuff physically, Like what is it and how 506 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: is it formed? So here I'm turning back to that 507 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: study from two thousand nine in p o OS one 508 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: by den O Varro at all, and the way they 509 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: explain it is that marine mucilage starts with what's known 510 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: as marine snow. So I'm gonna read from their their 511 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: explanation in their introductory section here they define marine snow 512 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: as quote amorphous aggregates with the size ranging from a 513 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: few millimeters to several meters, and so these are just 514 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: little flex of organic material that form an important part 515 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: of of the ocean because of course it's marine snow 516 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: raining down from the the the trophic areas in the 517 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: top of the water column where you've got the photosynthesizing organisms, 518 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: you know, they make energy from from sunlight, and then 519 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: they die and float down or stuff they produce comes 520 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: off of them and floats down, and it creates this 521 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: sort of blizzard of organic material that rains down below 522 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 1: and feeds organisms that live much lower down in the 523 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: water column who are not able to produce energy from sunlight. 524 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: And of course that processes is, as they say, ubiquitous 525 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: in the oceans of the world. It's it's everywhere. But 526 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: then they write quote water columns stratification, So that's the 527 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: forming of these layers in the water column. Water column 528 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:16,719 Speaker 1: stratification under summer conditions favors the progressive coalescence of small 529 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: sized aggregates into large, massive sheets, thin layers, flocks, and clouds, 530 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:27,959 Speaker 1: which are collectively known as marine mucilage. Mucilage is a 531 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: gelatinous evolving stage of marine snow, which can reach huge 532 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 1: dimensions and cover areas of hundreds of kilometers of coastline. 533 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: Now we'll come back to the exact mechanics of how 534 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: those aggregates form in the water column. But yeah, so 535 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: what what what's going on here is that something that 536 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: would be marine snow just these little flex of mucus 537 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: or decomposing matter or or organic material of some kind 538 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: collect when there are certain conditions in the water column, 539 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: and they start to stick together and form these huge masses, 540 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: and those masses become marine mucilage, again the gelatinous evolving 541 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: stage of marine snow. So in terms of its chemical composition, 542 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: they say, marine mucilage is quote is made of exo 543 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: polymeric compounds with highly colloidal properties that are released by 544 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: marine organisms through different processes including phytoplankton exudation of photosynthetically 545 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: derived carbohydrates produced under stressful conditions. Uh. And then they 546 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: say and through the death and composition of cell wall debris. 547 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: Such a release can be coupled with a limited ability 548 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: of prokaryotes to hydrolyze these exo polymers by means of 549 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:47,479 Speaker 1: extracellular enzymes, leading to the release and accumulation of large 550 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: molecular weight compounds in the system. Uh so, so a 551 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: lot of this stuff is being produced by phytoplankton and 552 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: it has a carbohydrate basis. Though another researcher that I 553 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: was reading was saying that the marine muselage ends up 554 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: being this combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat, which is 555 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: funny because it makes it like, you know, it's the 556 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: full gamut. It's like a gravy, it's got everything. But 557 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: apparently these these uh carbohydrates from phytoplankton are a big 558 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: part of it. And then we come back to what 559 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: you mentioned a minute ago about whether this would be 560 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: a habitat or not. So we know the sarcasm seaweed 561 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: is a is a habitat. Uh. The authors here right 562 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: quote these processes can be associated with viral infections of 563 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: prokaryotes and phytoplankton and the consequent cell license parentheses viral shunt, 564 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 1: which further contributes to release and accumulation of dissolved organic 565 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: matter in the water column. And what they end up 566 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: alleging is that the build up a marine mucilage essentially 567 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: forms a habitat for potentially pathogenic bacteria and viruses. So 568 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: e coal I can thrive in these things, which can 569 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: lead to infections of other organisms in the water, which 570 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 1: can sort of create a feedback loop here. Oh, that's 571 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: that's not good at all. That's that's not the sort 572 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: of environment we're looking for. So I guess it's time 573 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: to talk about, like what are the causes, what what 574 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: is the process, and what are the causes that creates 575 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: this kind of unprecedented build up of of marine mucilage. Well, 576 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: having seen Ghostbusters too, I assume it has to do 577 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: with like negative uh, like like emotions building up in 578 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: an urban population that some museum in Istanbul imported a 579 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: painting of Vigo the Carpathian and uh yeah, and everybody 580 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: in the city started being mean to each other. And 581 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: then this is what you get, alright, case close. We 582 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: gotta do something about that that painting. Got to shoot 583 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: that painting with some some charged slime. Is that what 584 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: they do? And oh yeah they Oh that's right in 585 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: in Ghostbusters two. Yeah, they charged the slime with good 586 00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 1: vibes by having everybody dance to that song and out 587 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: and they shoot it and they shoot it out of 588 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,479 Speaker 1: the guns. Yeah, they defeat they defeat Vigo with good vibes. 589 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: That was that was you know, say what you about 590 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: Ghostbusters two, but it leaned into the slime, like I'm 591 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,760 Speaker 1: guessing Ackroyd and Raymison they were like, well, what worked 592 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,280 Speaker 1: in the first one, Oh the slime, the slime worked, 593 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: let's do let's do even more slime. Ghostbusters two is 594 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: not great, but all the Vigo the Carpathian scenes are wonderful. 595 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I forget that name of that actor talking 596 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: to him. Oh yeah, he's a German actor that played 597 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 1: the actual Vigo Um a former boxer, kind of a 598 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: man of mystery. But he also pops up in John 599 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: Carpenter's in the Mouth of Madness, playing a distraught villager 600 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: in some sort of nightmare realm. And it's a it's 601 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,080 Speaker 1: it's a one of many fun little cameos in that movie. 602 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:54,160 Speaker 1: Wilhelm von Homburg was his name, and he was a wrestler, 603 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 1: perhaps a boxer too, but he was definitely a wrestler. 604 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: He was also in die Hard, Oh and die Hard. 605 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,400 Speaker 1: Oh was he one of the villains. Oh I almost 606 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: I am almost certain he was. Yeah, I don't think 607 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,759 Speaker 1: this is a kind of guy who played anything. But wait, 608 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't the police chief who was also in the 609 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: breakfast club. I can't imagine this guy every play police chief, 610 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,800 Speaker 1: not not in the US anyway, Maybe he played police 611 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: chief and I could see him playing a cop like 612 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,160 Speaker 1: in a German show. So it's possible. No, I was 613 00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: joking it was not that guy at don't I forget 614 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 1: his name, but that guy's that guy. Everybody knows that guy. Yeah, okay, anyway, sorry, 615 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,240 Speaker 1: we gotta come back to So the causes the causes 616 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: of marine mucilage um, so across everything I was reading, 617 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: there are three main causes that have been uh put 618 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,319 Speaker 1: forth as the probable primary explanations of what's going on 619 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 1: with this with this cease and outbreak. And these causes are, 620 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: and I'll explain each of these as we go on. 621 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 1: Warmer temperatures, calm weather, and specific kinds of water pollution. Now, 622 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,720 Speaker 1: first of all, I mentioned warm temperatures. Why would warm 623 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 1: temperatures contribute, Well, one reason is that phytoplankton populations apparently 624 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:08,359 Speaker 1: grow more at higher temperatures, and phytoplankton seems to be 625 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,879 Speaker 1: one of the main or the main source of of 626 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: this marine mucilage build up. And so of course ocean 627 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,960 Speaker 1: waters are getting warmer. That's consistent with climate change. One 628 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: Turkish researcher I was reading was cited in that Washington 629 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: Post article mentioned that the Sea of Marmora was several 630 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: degrees warmer than average after a very mild winter, And 631 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,960 Speaker 1: of course, uh, there's just continuous warming of the oceans 632 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: due to climate change. But then also you've got the 633 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 1: idea of particular kinds of pollution. So one thing that 634 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: is definitely true is you don't want to overfeed the sea. 635 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,279 Speaker 1: That can cause really bad things to happen downstream in 636 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: the ocean. Uh. These explosions of sea saliva in Turkey 637 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: are probably caused, like I said, mostly by phytoplankton, which 638 00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:00,799 Speaker 1: are microscopic marine algae, and they are primary autotrophs in 639 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,440 Speaker 1: the waters, so they are sort of the bottom level 640 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: of the food chain within ocean ecosystems. Their photosynthesizers, they're 641 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 1: they're the base of the food chain and the oceans, 642 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:14,280 Speaker 1: but also producers of oxygen that allows water dwelling animals 643 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:18,759 Speaker 1: to breathe. But when phytoplankton population surge, they can have 644 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 1: devastating effects on the ecosystems around them. And one way 645 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: that phytoplankton populations can surge and uh and existing phytoplankton 646 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 1: can produce an excess of mucus is when there are 647 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:38,799 Speaker 1: certain imbalances of nutrients that are injected into natural waterways, 648 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: and specifically what I've seen called out here are the 649 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:46,400 Speaker 1: nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus. Now, why would the Sea of 650 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:50,520 Speaker 1: Marmara have especially high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. Well, 651 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,719 Speaker 1: first of all, it is fed directly from the Black Sea, 652 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,280 Speaker 1: which tends to be nutrient rich anyway. But it's also 653 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: fed by wastewater runoff for um like twenty million people, 654 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: which would include untreated wastewater so like like sewage, but 655 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: also agricultural runoff which contains things like fertilizers. This can 656 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,879 Speaker 1: lead to a chain reaction in which the phytoplankton sort 657 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 1: of become stressed and under conditions of stress they exude 658 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,839 Speaker 1: mucus or this this mucus like material that of course 659 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 1: can lead to these runaway conditions. Now how exactly does 660 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: this process happen? Well, it's actually described very well in 661 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: that that Sarah Jong article in the Atlantic from from 662 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: from June twenty one. So she backs up to the 663 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,440 Speaker 1: starting point that we already talked about with with marines snow. 664 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,719 Speaker 1: You've got marine snow already in the water, but then 665 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 1: you've got these imbalances of nutrients that are largely caused 666 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: by uh, the untreated waste water and the agricultural runoff 667 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:57,000 Speaker 1: that may contain fertilizers. And this leads the phytoplankton in 668 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: the water to produce copious mucus. The excess of mucus 669 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: then accumulates into these these things we mentioned earlier that 670 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,680 Speaker 1: we're sometimes called stringers, the you know, these snot like strings, 671 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,839 Speaker 1: and then that accumulates into clouds and then ends up 672 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: somehow floating up onto the surface becoming these sheets. Now, 673 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,320 Speaker 1: one question is why do warm water and calm weather 674 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: conditions also contribute to marine mucilage build up. Well, it 675 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,440 Speaker 1: goes like this. In the warmer months, the sun heats 676 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: up the top layer of the water column near the surface, 677 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 1: which causes increased stratification. So the warm layer of water 678 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:42,320 Speaker 1: above the cold layers of water below, and the cold 679 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,920 Speaker 1: layer of water is denser than the warm layer of water. 680 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 1: And salinity also affects the saltier water is denser than 681 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: less salty water, which is why in really salty bodies 682 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,359 Speaker 1: of water, like the Dead Sea, it's easier for things 683 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,320 Speaker 1: to float. It's because the water is denser, but also 684 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 1: cold water is denser, so mucus forms in the top 685 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:06,160 Speaker 1: layer of the water where the photosynthesizing organisms, the phytoplankton, 686 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,760 Speaker 1: are up near the top of the water. They produced 687 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,320 Speaker 1: the mucus. After it's produced, the mucus starts to sink, 688 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:16,480 Speaker 1: but because of the water column stratification, at some point 689 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 1: it hits dense cool water and stop sinking. It just 690 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:24,200 Speaker 1: hangs around, and as it hangs around, it starts to 691 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:29,359 Speaker 1: aggregate together and accumulate into these strings or clouds. And 692 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:31,560 Speaker 1: here's where the third element comes in. I mentioned h 693 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 1: I mentioned warm temperatures, the pollution, but also the calm weather. 694 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,839 Speaker 1: Winds and storms could normally come in to rough up 695 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,720 Speaker 1: the waters and essentially tear up, churn up forming strings 696 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:48,280 Speaker 1: and clouds of mucus. But if the weather is especially calm, 697 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,920 Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. For example, we talked about how this 698 00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 1: was historically observed in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea 699 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:59,799 Speaker 1: tends to be relatively calm. Then after that, genres there 700 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: are bacteria within all of this mucilage that start to 701 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:08,400 Speaker 1: decompose it, and as they decompose it, they release gases, 702 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,799 Speaker 1: forming bubbles within this accumulated matrix of mucus, and then 703 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,800 Speaker 1: it floats to the top of the water and collects 704 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:20,120 Speaker 1: in sheets on the surface. And one astounding fact that 705 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: Jong mentioned is the quote in the Adriatic Sea, the 706 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: arm of the Mediterranean, just east of the Italian Peninsula, 707 00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:29,880 Speaker 1: the floating mucus can dry and toughen in the sun. 708 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:41,000 Speaker 1: Seagulls are known to walk on it. So one of 709 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:42,920 Speaker 1: the things about this, I mean, we're talking about this 710 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:48,120 Speaker 1: this overabundance of slime caused by these the by by 711 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,439 Speaker 1: pollution changes in the environment. I mean, it really really 712 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:56,080 Speaker 1: get the sense of like the mass ouzing of of 713 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:59,920 Speaker 1: the ocean's pus, you know, like the the the zing 714 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,960 Speaker 1: of a massive infection. Yeah, that's funny. One of the 715 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 1: articles I read it, though I don't recall which one, 716 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 1: did cite a marine biologist, I think, or it was 717 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,359 Speaker 1: some researcher in this area who was saying that it's 718 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 1: sort of like the ocean has the flu and this 719 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,240 Speaker 1: is this is the mucus coming out of its nose. 720 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 1: You know, it reflects a sort of general sickness in 721 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,680 Speaker 1: the ecosystem due to h due to pollution, due to 722 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:26,520 Speaker 1: changing temperatures, and and all that adding up together. Now, 723 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: of course it comes to the question of can anything 724 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:32,240 Speaker 1: be done about this, about this cease not the plague 725 00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:34,640 Speaker 1: of mucus here. There are a few sort of levels 726 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,440 Speaker 1: at which you could answer that question. One is, well, 727 00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: can anything be done about it once it is here, 728 00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,799 Speaker 1: once it's all collected. I've read that Turkish authorities are 729 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,920 Speaker 1: trying some possible solutions. In that that Washington Post article 730 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:52,160 Speaker 1: I mentioned by Antonio Nouri Farzan. She mentions that they 731 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,400 Speaker 1: they have floated the idea of pun not intended of 732 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,799 Speaker 1: dredging the sea floor as a way to possibly try 733 00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:01,640 Speaker 1: to remove some of it has settled on on the bottom. 734 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,080 Speaker 1: But they're also just vacuuming it up in the surface 735 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:06,920 Speaker 1: from the surface, and we've seen that in some of 736 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:09,600 Speaker 1: the images we talked about earlier, these photographs of these 737 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,080 Speaker 1: workers with hoses just trying to suck up the slime 738 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,560 Speaker 1: from near the coasts. Uh farce On writes quote in 739 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 1: ismt workers have laboriously collected more than a hundred and 740 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,880 Speaker 1: ten tons of the mucus, which was sent to an 741 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:26,800 Speaker 1: incinerator for disposal. I wonder what it smells like downwind 742 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,760 Speaker 1: of that incinerator. What what is the smell of grilled snot? 743 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:34,160 Speaker 1: Oh man, this would be a good one for the Ghostbusters, right, 744 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:36,520 Speaker 1: because it's this is the smell of having just fired 745 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: a proton pack uh into some sort of a slime 746 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:48,120 Speaker 1: ectoplasm based organism or spiritual being fried ghost. Yes. So 747 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,279 Speaker 1: there are you know, some things that people are that 748 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,960 Speaker 1: they're trying to do, Turkish authorities are trying to do. 749 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: Now that this problem has already happened, the bigger question 750 00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 1: would be how do you prevent it from happening in 751 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:02,400 Speaker 1: future seasons. So one of the big things, obviously is 752 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,600 Speaker 1: reducing pollution, reducing wastewater runoff into the Sea of Marmara, 753 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:09,799 Speaker 1: reducing it into any sea where this could happen um, 754 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 1: and that would prevent the this build up, this imbalance 755 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,800 Speaker 1: of nutrients that sets off this chain reaction by feeding 756 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:19,239 Speaker 1: the phytoplankton like that, And there is some indication that 757 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:22,880 Speaker 1: that could work. According to Jong's article, there is there's 758 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:25,360 Speaker 1: every reason to think halting pollution could actually make a 759 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,880 Speaker 1: difference in the following years because of what we've already 760 00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:32,000 Speaker 1: seen work in the Adriatic. See you remember the Adriatic 761 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,440 Speaker 1: is where where these older reports from the eighteenth century 762 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:39,240 Speaker 1: of the Mare Sporco had taken place. And John Wrights 763 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,759 Speaker 1: quote in the Adriatic uh pusque Do says, and that's 764 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:44,520 Speaker 1: a researcher who was one of the authors of that 765 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:48,240 Speaker 1: two thousand nine article, says that mucilage outbreaks have died 766 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:50,880 Speaker 1: down since Italy began cleaning up the waste water that 767 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,720 Speaker 1: flows into it. The sea has returned to what looks 768 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,880 Speaker 1: like a healthier, less slimy normal. So it looks like 769 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,680 Speaker 1: this sort of worked in the Adriatic just stopped polluting 770 00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:02,160 Speaker 1: the wa better as much. But there have been other 771 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:05,720 Speaker 1: things that have been mentioned in that that Guardian article 772 00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:08,640 Speaker 1: I was talking about earlier. It cites a researcher, damed 773 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:12,440 Speaker 1: Dr nes leyhan Os Deli Say, who is a marine 774 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:18,280 Speaker 1: biologist at Istanbul University, and this researcher also mentions over fishing, 775 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:22,960 Speaker 1: stop over fishing, because fishing removes organisms that prey on 776 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 1: the phytoplankton and help keep it from getting out of control. 777 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:27,480 Speaker 1: So it's kind of like how you know, you don't 778 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,359 Speaker 1: want to take the wolves out of the park, right 779 00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,560 Speaker 1: because you could get an overabundance of prey animals. You 780 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:35,359 Speaker 1: also don't want to take the fish that feed on 781 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:39,560 Speaker 1: these autotrophes, take too many of them out of the waterways, right, 782 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: So so yeah, don't So we need to do not 783 00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:45,600 Speaker 1: over fish. We need to cut down on the amount 784 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:49,040 Speaker 1: of pollutants that are leaking into these these bodies of water. 785 00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:51,920 Speaker 1: And uh well, I mean on top of that too, 786 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,279 Speaker 1: we already pointed to climate change being an issue as well, right, 787 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,479 Speaker 1: And as with so many issues, you end up seeing 788 00:45:57,520 --> 00:45:59,480 Speaker 1: and like, why is this weird thing happening in the 789 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,400 Speaker 1: ocean right now? It seems like a large contributing macroscopic 790 00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:05,880 Speaker 1: factor in the background is climate change probably, you know, 791 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:09,520 Speaker 1: as the as the waters warm, that changes just all 792 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,719 Speaker 1: kinds of complex interactions and the ecosystems, and so of 793 00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:16,960 Speaker 1: course climate change is really the the ultimate battle we 794 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,000 Speaker 1: have to fight in the long term. But so, I 795 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,320 Speaker 1: guess that does it for me. With the the specific 796 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,640 Speaker 1: outbreak of marine mucilage in in the Sea of Marmara, 797 00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:27,800 Speaker 1: and I guess originally I was just captivated by that 798 00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:30,120 Speaker 1: that article in the Atlantic and the photographs that I 799 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,879 Speaker 1: saw along with it. But it also this subject got 800 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:36,239 Speaker 1: me thinking about how how slime, mucus and snot are, 801 00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:39,640 Speaker 1: as we said earlier, fairly loose terms, and not every 802 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:42,160 Speaker 1: kind of snot in the sea is identical or has 803 00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:45,279 Speaker 1: the same biochemical origin and when So, when I was 804 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:47,960 Speaker 1: searching around for other reports of different kinds of C 805 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,920 Speaker 1: snot quote, one that I came across was a totally 806 00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:54,359 Speaker 1: different substance that was referred to by researchers with this term. 807 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:57,239 Speaker 1: That was in the Gulf of Mexico following the deep 808 00:46:57,239 --> 00:47:00,880 Speaker 1: Water Horizon oil spill. Yeah. Yeah, this is the perfect 809 00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:04,280 Speaker 1: place to go, you know, having just discussed the horrors 810 00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:07,680 Speaker 1: of the oil age, um the ongoing horrors of the 811 00:47:07,719 --> 00:47:11,719 Speaker 1: oil age, because yeah, the deep Water Horizon spill gave 812 00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,960 Speaker 1: us a kind of a particular type of of slime. 813 00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:18,040 Speaker 1: So the deep part of horizons spilled to refresh everyone. 814 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:21,200 Speaker 1: This was, by many estimates, the largest marine oil spill 815 00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:24,640 Speaker 1: in history. It occurred on April in the Gulf of 816 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:29,600 Speaker 1: Mexico on the BP operated Macondo Prospect Macondo Oil Prospect, 817 00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:34,360 Speaker 1: and it dumped an estimated four point nine million barrels 818 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:37,200 Speaker 1: I've also seen I think these were earlier estimates four 819 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:41,640 Speaker 1: point one million barrels UH into the Gulf of Mexico, 820 00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:45,120 Speaker 1: in addition to an estimated three hundred and sixty three 821 00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:50,560 Speaker 1: thousand tons of natural gas. It's a sort of unimaginable scale. Yeah. 822 00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:53,440 Speaker 1: And um, you know, as the name implies here, the 823 00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:57,040 Speaker 1: deep Water Horizon operated in deep water just beyond the 824 00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:00,640 Speaker 1: edge of the continental shelf. And we were both looking 825 00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:04,120 Speaker 1: at a paper from from Mark shrope that was in 826 00:48:04,239 --> 00:48:07,799 Speaker 1: Nature back in twleven, so in the you know, this 827 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:11,360 Speaker 1: came out right afterwards. This was in the immediate period 828 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:14,160 Speaker 1: of of of research, just a lot of researchers getting 829 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,520 Speaker 1: involved in trying to figure out what is the damage? 830 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,720 Speaker 1: You know that I think it pretty quickly we realized 831 00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:23,800 Speaker 1: it was extensive, but but exactly what was the damage 832 00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:27,319 Speaker 1: to to the environment. And this article, which you can 833 00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:29,880 Speaker 1: look up, it's available for free online, is titled deep 834 00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:35,160 Speaker 1: Wounds and and in that article shrope Um points out 835 00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:38,960 Speaker 1: the collection and burning efforts UH only took care of 836 00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,960 Speaker 1: an estimated quarter of the liquid from the well. The 837 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:46,359 Speaker 1: rest of it was dispersed into the sea in small droplets. UH. 838 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:50,160 Speaker 1: In tar balls that formed. Some of it was chemically dispersed, 839 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:54,439 Speaker 1: and some of it evaporated and or dissolved, but short 840 00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:57,680 Speaker 1: rites that researchers began to realize pretty quickly that while 841 00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,600 Speaker 1: some of the uh, you know, the surf, a shallow 842 00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:04,279 Speaker 1: and coastal damage was the most obvious, deep environments were 843 00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:07,120 Speaker 1: hit really hard as well. The researchers he talked to 844 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:11,280 Speaker 1: in the article describe a pervasive layer of putrefied sediment 845 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:15,440 Speaker 1: containing dead sediment dwellers, you know, different organisms and worms 846 00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:18,799 Speaker 1: and the like, dead jellyfish from layers above that had 847 00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:24,160 Speaker 1: died and had drifted down and also highly disrupted um 848 00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:28,719 Speaker 1: or even just you know, counseled canceled out microbial activity. 849 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:32,680 Speaker 1: So the result was kind of a necro sludge. They 850 00:49:32,680 --> 00:49:35,680 Speaker 1: did find some things that were still technically alive in it. 851 00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:38,880 Speaker 1: They pointed to some snails in particular, but the snails 852 00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:43,080 Speaker 1: were no longer moving. They weren't behaving like living snails anymore, 853 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,400 Speaker 1: which just makes it all the more creepy, and so 854 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:48,960 Speaker 1: of course it as a completely different original cause. But 855 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:53,120 Speaker 1: this does remind me of the images of the the 856 00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:56,600 Speaker 1: sludge or the slime or the mucus from these phytoplankton 857 00:49:56,640 --> 00:50:00,239 Speaker 1: blooms settling down on the sea floor in the Sea 858 00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:03,319 Speaker 1: of Marmara and smothering organisms there. Yeah, some of the 859 00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:06,800 Speaker 1: descriptions were also sounded a lot like what we're looking 860 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:10,279 Speaker 1: at here is described as looking like cauliflower, you know, 861 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:16,280 Speaker 1: as having this kind of this ghastly appearance. Now, scientists 862 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:19,760 Speaker 1: from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science 863 00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:21,960 Speaker 1: Conference said that as much as one third of the 864 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,680 Speaker 1: oil from the Deep Water Horizon disaster may have mixed 865 00:50:24,680 --> 00:50:28,720 Speaker 1: with deep ocean sediments and and here it risks lasting 866 00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:33,480 Speaker 1: damage to the two ecosystems and commercial fisheries. Researchers were reporting, 867 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:37,959 Speaker 1: for instance, normally pink and lighter jellies from from further 868 00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,759 Speaker 1: up in the water column that were found to be 869 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,040 Speaker 1: black or brown. And so yeah, that the damage from 870 00:50:44,080 --> 00:50:46,280 Speaker 1: an event on this scale was this thought to extend 871 00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:49,760 Speaker 1: just throughout the water column. So certainly the surface, certainly 872 00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:53,480 Speaker 1: um on the on the the shore, but also deep 873 00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:57,040 Speaker 1: down right down to the very bottom. Everything about that 874 00:50:57,200 --> 00:51:00,439 Speaker 1: is a truly sad and devastating story. But thinking about 875 00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:03,600 Speaker 1: biological mucus, I do kind of come back to despite 876 00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:05,919 Speaker 1: you know, all of the grossness that we've been talking 877 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:08,120 Speaker 1: about throughout the middle of this episode, a kind of 878 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:16,000 Speaker 1: wonder um about the ways that that uh tiny you know, microscopically, 879 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:22,080 Speaker 1: invisibly microscopic organisms can so quickly, uh change the whole 880 00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:27,920 Speaker 1: environment with with just like releasing mucus or mucus like substances. 881 00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:31,160 Speaker 1: Obviously the effects are bad, but in a strange way, 882 00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:34,279 Speaker 1: I find something conceptually kind of beautiful about it. Well, 883 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 1: in a way like the viscosity comes first, Like if 884 00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:41,440 Speaker 1: you had a scenario, whether I a mythological creator god 885 00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:44,600 Speaker 1: or gods is sort of toy in around with different 886 00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,120 Speaker 1: ideas and and you know, one day they have something 887 00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:49,640 Speaker 1: and one of their tendance comes and so what do 888 00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:50,680 Speaker 1: you what do you got there? And they're like, oh, 889 00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:53,120 Speaker 1: it's it's great, it's um, it's look at it. I 890 00:51:53,239 --> 00:51:55,040 Speaker 1: think I'm gonna call it slime. I'm gonna base an 891 00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:57,360 Speaker 1: entire ecosystem on this stuff. What do you think the 892 00:51:57,440 --> 00:51:59,960 Speaker 1: whole planet? And they're like, yeah, yeah, let's do it. 893 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,759 Speaker 1: The mucus is the life. Yeah. I mean, maybe that's 894 00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:07,080 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why slime based creatures and monsters 895 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:11,280 Speaker 1: sometimes resonate, is that um is that we we realize 896 00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:14,120 Speaker 1: that this isn't this is this is life, you know, 897 00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:16,439 Speaker 1: this is this is a hallmark of life. That's why 898 00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:19,600 Speaker 1: the blob is is grim. That's why verious slime creatures 899 00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:23,160 Speaker 1: are grim, because they're just an exaggeration of what we 900 00:52:23,239 --> 00:52:26,680 Speaker 1: see when we look closely at the world around us. 901 00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:29,799 Speaker 1: Maybe the same way that people watch crime shows and 902 00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:33,160 Speaker 1: anti heroes and all that and see people behaving badly 903 00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:36,680 Speaker 1: and kind of secretly see elements of their own personality 904 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,600 Speaker 1: that they kind of keep submerged throughout life but are 905 00:52:39,600 --> 00:52:41,759 Speaker 1: coming through in this character on the screen or in 906 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,560 Speaker 1: the book. I wonder if it's similar like that, but 907 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:47,839 Speaker 1: at a biological level. With with slime monsters, you kind 908 00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:49,960 Speaker 1: of you see that part of yourself. You kind of 909 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:53,080 Speaker 1: see like, oh, this mass of floating mucus. In a way, 910 00:52:53,120 --> 00:52:55,040 Speaker 1: that's kind of what that's what I am. That's a 911 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:57,600 Speaker 1: big part of me. Oh man, you know, I'm I'm 912 00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:00,680 Speaker 1: smelling a new genre of podcas ask now, I think 913 00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:05,799 Speaker 1: we'll call it true slime. True slime. Yes, we'll be pioneers. Yeah, 914 00:53:06,040 --> 00:53:08,759 Speaker 1: that's gotta already exist. Somebody has already got a true slim. 915 00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:12,279 Speaker 1: Surely we'll go and like I said, there's enough there. 916 00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:14,799 Speaker 1: I think you could make a podcast call it True 917 00:53:14,840 --> 00:53:18,920 Speaker 1: Slime and just talk about something slime related in every 918 00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:21,920 Speaker 1: episode and you'd be good to go. God, that sounds 919 00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:24,239 Speaker 1: like it was made for me. All right, Well we're 920 00:53:24,239 --> 00:53:26,759 Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and close the book on this one. 921 00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:28,520 Speaker 1: But hey, if you want to listen to other episodes 922 00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:30,480 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow your Mind, you know where to 923 00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:32,239 Speaker 1: find us. Check out the Stuff to Blow your Mind 924 00:53:32,320 --> 00:53:36,200 Speaker 1: podcast feed. You can find that. Wherever you get your podcast, 925 00:53:36,239 --> 00:53:37,759 Speaker 1: you get your core episodes of Stift to Blow your 926 00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:41,800 Speaker 1: Mind on Tuesdays and Thursdays listener Man on Monday's uh, 927 00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:45,239 Speaker 1: What's on Wednesday? Artifact Friday, we do a little Weird 928 00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:47,239 Speaker 1: House Cinema, which is just dark time to talk about 929 00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:51,880 Speaker 1: weird movies with none or less of the science. Sometimes 930 00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:54,120 Speaker 1: we sneak a little science in there. But anyway, that's 931 00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:56,200 Speaker 1: the schedule wherever you listen to us. Though, if the 932 00:53:56,239 --> 00:53:59,319 Speaker 1: platform gives you the ability to rate and review and 933 00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:03,200 Speaker 1: even subscribe, do those things. Those help us out huge things. 934 00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:06,320 Speaker 1: As always, to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 935 00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:08,120 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 936 00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:10,600 Speaker 1: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 937 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:12,799 Speaker 1: topic for the future, just to say hello. You can 938 00:54:12,840 --> 00:54:15,520 Speaker 1: email us at contact and Stuff to Blow your Mind 939 00:54:15,719 --> 00:54:25,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of 940 00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,160 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, 941 00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:31,239 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're 942 00:54:31,239 --> 00:54:41,160 Speaker 1: listening to your favorite shows.