Swimming Through Time

Earth’s oceans have always been teeming with life, but the creatures that once swam through them were often very different from those we know today. This talk explores how swimming animals evolved, developed, and interacted over hundreds of millions of years, and what their stories can reveal about life in our oceans today.

We begin with the earliest swimmers, when life in the oceans first began experimenting with movement. From these simple beginnings emerged an extraordinary diversity of forms, and as evolution unfolded, new body shapes, behaviours, and strategies appeared, allowing animals to move more efficiently, find food, and avoid predators. These changes didn’t happen in isolation, each species was part of a wider, interconnected system.

As we move through different prehistoric eras, we'll explore how these animals interacted within complex ecosystems. Predator-prey relationships drove the evolution of speed, size, and intelligence, while competition and environmental pressures shaped who thrived and who disappeared. Major events such as climatic shifts and mass extinctions repeatedly transformed life beneath the waves, forcing species to adapt, migrate, or give way to new forms of life.

Understanding these patterns helps us make sense of the challenges facing modern oceans today. The ways ancient marine animals responded to environmental change offer valuable clues about how today’s species might cope with warming waters, habitat loss, and shifting ecosystems. While the details may differ, the underlying processes of adaptation and survival remain strikingly similar. Ultimately, this talk tells a story of evolution, resilience, and connection beneath the waves. The history of prehistoric oceans is not just a record of the past, it is a guide to the present and the future, reminding us that the life in our oceans today is part of a much longer and ever-changing story.