• Question: what fascinates you underwater and who inspired you to be who you are today?

    Asked by zmzmzm to Allan, Angela, Diva, Harriet, Nathan on 28 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Nathan Langford

      Nathan Langford answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      Here’s a random answer for you…

      Shrimp fascinate me underwater… Did you know that Shrimp have some of the most amazing vision? They can even see the polarisation of light? (Like what your glasses do when you go and see a 3D movie!)

    • Photo: Harriet Groom

      Harriet Groom answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      I went to a talk a while ago by a man who looks really deep in the sea – there’s a whole fascinating world down there that we know nothing about. What excites me is that there are loads of species down there that no one’s discovered yet and they might have useful properties like enzymes that can work under huge pressure or really cold temperatures!

      Who I am today is lots of things: as a scientist I was inspired by all the great people who have taught me over the years (at school and university) as well as my friends who are scientists now. As a person I have to thank my parents and friends for their inspiration to be the best I can be!

    • Photo: Diva Amon

      Diva Amon answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Hey zmzmzm,

      The deep-sea is what fascinates me underwater. That’s why I study it! The fact that we know more about the surface of the moon than the deepest depths of our planet’s oceans is just mind-boggling, especially as it is the largest habitat on Earth. Every time, I have gone on a research trip, we have come back with tens to hundreds of new species of deep-sea animals. There is still so much more to be discovered living down there in that dark ocean and that is so exciting! You just never know what you are going to see or discover – maybe a giant squid or maybe a dead whale – who knows!

      The people who have inspired me to be who I am today include:
      1) My mum – She is the most important – without her i would never have been who I am today. She read my animal books to me every night when i was little and took me to the beach, the zoo and the aquarium. She helped to put that love for the ocean and all things natural into me.

      2) Professor Paul Tyler – he is one of my Professors and is one of the most famous deep-sea biologists in the whole world. He discovered that the seasons we have on land, like winter and summer, still manage to have an effect kilometres down in the deep-sea. He has traveled all over the world, dived in countless submarines into the depths and is probably one of the people in the world who has seen the deep-sea floor the most. He has done all of this and yet he still manages to be one of the loveliest down-to-earth people you will ever meet!

      3) David Attenborough – The shows he has hosted were some of the most INFLUENTIAL in my life. I was totally captivated by the animals on the BBC documentaries and of course, his voice narrating them,
      opened up a whole natural world to me. He has been all over the world interacting with all types of wildlife and seeing so many amazing natural events.

      4) Charles Darwin – I think most biologists would list this man. He is one of the most iconic biologists ever. What inspires me about him is his ability to think outside the box, to come up with a totally new concept that turned out to be right! He was really a forward-thinker.

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