Question: wHATS YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMAL?

Jon Copley answered on 16 Jun 2010:

On land: my dog, Monty. And buzzards that I sometimes see when I’m out cross-country running.

In the ocean, when we’re diving with an underwater vehicle: comb jellies (also known as “ctenophores”) – amazing-looking animals with transparent bodies that are covered with lines of rainbow-coloured “fire” where the lights of our sub catch rows of tiny paddles that they use to swim. They are perhaps the most “other-worldly” animals I’ve encountered in the deep ocean.

Here’s a photo of one, from one of our deep-sea expeditions earlier this year:

And in the ocean when I’m living aboard a ship: whales. To be honest, I didn’t used to be that fussed about them – but then I met one. They often come to visit our ship when we’re working, and they are incredible – so playful, curious, intelligent, and magnificent. And you can sometimes even hear their calls and songs through the hull, when you’re lying in your bunk.

I am absolutely, utterly against the hunting of whales – there are few things I feel so strongly about. It is completely unnecessary for food, or for science (which is the the “excuse” some countries have used to carry on whaling – and it’s an outrageous lie, in my opinion).