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Sönke Johnsen - Five Way Interview

Originally trained in maths and art, Sönke Johnsen has studied optics in biology for the last 35 years, the last 24 of which have been at Duke University. He is particularly interested in vision and light in the open ocean, but has also worked on coastal, freshwater, and terrestrial species, animal navigation, vision at night, and human cataracts.  His field work mostly involves open-ocean research cruises that use SCUBA and deep-sea manned or robotic submersibles.  In addition to exploring the optical and visual tricks that animals perform, Johnsen is interested in improving communication between biologists and physicists, and scientists and artists. Johnsen’s research has been featured in many traditional media outlets, but also in Finding Nemo, The Magic Treehouse book series, NPR’s Radiolab, the poetry of John Updike, the humor of Dave Barry, and most recently in Ed Yong’s An Immense World. Johnsen has written or co-written five books, The Optics of Life, Visual Ecology, Into the Great Wide Ocean, Color in Nature, and The Radiant Sea. 

Why marine biology? 

Mostly because the North Carolina beach was my yearly escape into nature from highly industrial Pittsburgh. I became devoted to the ocean at a very early age. 

Why this book? 

A few reasons. First, I wanted to show people the open ocean world that I loved and that was so unfamiliar to most. Second, I wanted to give people an idea of what ocean research is actually like. Finally, I wanted people to understand how scientists think and see that they’re not so different from everyone else. 

Why do you think this is the least known habitat on earth?

Mostly because it is so hard to get to! To get out of sight of shore for days or weeks at a time, you need a large ship. And to do anything beyond looking over the side, you need a ship that allows you to explore the ocean via scuba diving, collecting animals with nets, or using small submarines. Very few people have ever done something like this. Even those that go on cruise ships for vacations are usually many dozens of feet above the water and can’t tell what’s going on underneath the surface.

What’s next?

My next research expedition will be on the RV Atlantis, which houses and operates the Alvin submersible. We will be going to the deep-sea hydrothermal vents off the Azores to study light and vision about a mile below the surface. 

What’s exciting you at the moment? 

So many things. The natural world is beautiful, fascinating, and often very funny. I suppose it’s odd for an author to say this, but I follow what I once saw written on the wall of the library in Woods Hole, Massachusetts –  'Study nature, not books'. 

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