Dr Asha de Vos is an internationally acclaimed Sri Lankan marine biologist, ocean educator and pioneer of blue whale research in the Northern Indian Ocean. She founded Oceanswell, Sri Lanka's first non-profit marine conservation organization, and her work has been featured by the BBC, TED and National Geographic. She was on the BBC 100 Women 2018 list of most inspiring and influential women worldwide, and has received numerous awards, including the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. She joined the UN Secretary-General's Scientific Advisory Board in 2024. Peter Godfrey-Smith is a philosophy professor at the University of Sydney. He has written six books, including the best-selling Other Minds, which explores consciousness and intelligence in the animal kingdom and the octopus in particular. Anthony J. Martin is a palaeontologist and geologist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is Professor of Pedagogy at Emory University. Rebecca Helm is a marine biologist and Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Georgetown University. Helen Scales is a marine biologist, author and broadcaster. She has written several books, including the Guardian bestseller Spirals in Time. Andrew Thaler is a deep-sea ecologist and founder of Blackbeard Biologic.