[News]: Dr. Steve O'Shea and Kat Bolstad in the NZ Herald

[tonmo]

TONMO.com staff members Dr. Steve O'Shea and Kat Bolstad (Tintenfisch) are featured in the following news article from the New Zealand Herald. Great article, though they somehow failed to mention that Steve and Kat "met" right here on TONMO.com.
:x

Importantly, this article provides a high-level view of what the two will be embarking on over the next year or so. The link to the related discussion thread follows the link to the article:

Article: Operation Squid

And the discussion thread is here (it includes some fantastic pictures of an Architeuthis display at the National Aquarium of New Zealand):

Thread: Architeuthis again (never a dull moment in NZ)

There's much more where this came from (and clearly more to come) in the Physiology and Biology forum.

 

[Jean]

Just shows what we mere mortals can aspire to................sigh


if only I could stretch my squid or find that it fed exclusively on human fingers & toes


J

 

[Steve O'Shea]

It is true, we met on TONMO.com, and to TONMO I am indebted! Funny thing is that I found this site one day when surfing the web for the very first time. Destiny eh.

Jean, I promise you that after all this 'giant/colossal squid' business has died down I'm going to start working on midget species!!

Day 1 of exhibit installation is over; our giant squid is 'up and running', the new boat arrives tomorrow, SKY television and Discovery have their sections ready (almost), and Jansen's pet supplies are almost there also. All has gone remarkably smoothly.

Our squid exhibit is nowhere near as grandiose as that in Napier, but there's a lot of interesting things happening. We'll post a few images online tomorrow eve (all going to plan) so you can all see what it is that we are up to.

The paperwork for the new Stabi-Craft boat has come through today, so very soon (post Hobart) Kat and I will be posting some rather sensational images and (hopefully) interesting stories about our exploits at sea ... and ... (I can see this driving Clem up the wall) .... and .... and ....

.... you'll just have to tune in and see what happens next .... although you'll either hear of or get wind of it on TONMO.com first (I seem to be marketing TONMO.com don't I - LOL).

Here's a link to the sensational boat we'll be darting around in (HT659):
http://www.powerboat.co.nz/stabi-craft659HT.asp
(typical NZ boating conditions ... but that's where you find 'em squid; Stabi-Craft is the top-of-the-line in rough weather conditions, so the team will be safe as houses; Kat can tie a wicked knot and I can reverse a trailer anywhere).

....things are happening

 

[Clem]

The paperwork for the new Stabi-Craft boat has come through today, so very soon (post Hobart) Kat and I will be posting some rather sensational images and (hopefully) interesting stories about our exploits at sea ... and ... (I can see this driving Clem up the wall) .... and .... and ....

What do you mean? I'm still up it from the last time.

Nice boat. Did you spring for the optional roof-mounted rocket launchers?
When you've finished applying the flame decals to the hull, please post a picture.



Clem

 

[tonmo]

Wow, that's a great boat! Smaller (but no doubt more nimble) than the trawler you are seen on in that Discovery Channel documentary (On the Trail of the Giant Squid), which is, in fact, airing in exactly 1 hour and 16 minutes.

So does it come with a bucket for sea sickness, or will Kat be using the usual side-of-the-boat method?

 

[WhiteKiboko]

So does it come with a bucket for sea sickness, or will Kat be using the usual side-of-the-boat method?

well, it does have the live bait well....

are they trying to make a comment about the boats durability by including a 500gph bilge pump?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

are they trying to make a comment about the boats durability by including a 500gph bilge pump?

... the bung is an optional extra

You can swamp those boats and they remain afloat; those are pontoons running down the side. We'll have a pic online tonight with scale; it's T-riffic!

 

[Architeuthoceras]

This is probably a nautical thing, but why are all the dimensions for your new boat metric except the Transom Length

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Good catch; I don't know (I still work in feet). As an aside, a 20 metre squid (if such a thing existed) is ~ 60 feet. That's the length of a bowling alley.

Anyone who drowns a boat in the calm conditions you'll find attached doesn't deserve to have a boat, but you'll see what this little puppy is capable of:

http://www.stabicraft.com/index.cfm/Stability

 

[Steve O'Shea]

So does it come with a bucket for sea sickness, or will Kat be using the usual side-of-the-boat method?

I swear that sea-sickness is a state of mind; once she's behind the throttle, in control of the boat herself, and with a task to do, it'll all be onward and upward.

 

[tonmo]

That's good, positive thinking! I am completely not seaworthy myself, despite my love of the sea. :?

 

[Jean]

I swear that sea-sickness is a state of mind; once she's behind the throttle, in control of the boat herself, and with a task to do, it'll all be onward and upward.

I dunno, I remember the trip with Keith

Sorry Kat, I'm just gloating, that was the first trip I can remember where I not only wasn't sick but even felt human

I also remember a certain member of the team yelling "WE GOTTA SQUID!!" followed rather more quietly with "oh its a %#@%# octopus!

That trip was rather memorable for not getting any squid (quite apart from being the first solely ceph catching expidition I'd been on, we tend to get added onto the fish catching trips!)

J

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Our squid exhibit is nowhere near as grandiose as that in Napier, but there's a lot of interesting things happening. We'll post a few images online tomorrow eve (all going to plan) so you can all see what it is that we are up to.

... our camera battery went flat and the charger is at work exhibit is looking good, but could do with a vacuum (can wait until morrow morn); boat is sensational!

Nighty night
O

 

[WhiteKiboko]

"...and Bolstad is completing her PhD on the systematics and culture of squid."

culture of squid.....does that mean she has to analyze and write stuff up about us?