Listen on your favourite podcast platform
Or listen right here:
Listen to the full episode
Listen to the shorter version
We’re continuing on our iconic deep-sea habitat trilogy with the episode you’ve all been waiting for… HYDROTHERMAL VENTS! In this jam-packed episode we cover forgotten christmas specials, lebensspuren, deep-sea sandwiches and climate crisis sea-shanties (and that’s only in the first 20 minutes)!
We speak to the incredible Charles “Chuck” Fisher, a pivotal biologist in hydrothermal vent research, about these fascinating habitats and the organisms which exist there. We learn about the iconic tube-worms and their specialised adaptations to life in these extreme environments. Plus, Chuck does some of his own myth-busting and sets the record straight on a common tubeworm trope.
Don shares his own experiences of these impressive habitats (and the not-so-impressive lunches that came alongside them). Plus, we hear from you in the form of listener questions, children’s books and (another?!) deep-sea conspiracy theory. Buckle-up for a big one!
DID YOU KNOW WE SELL MERCH?
We have huge news! You’ll be very excited to hear that we have released a new design for our merch, featuring our favourite parasite - the tongue-eating isopod, Cymothoa exigua!
Check it out here!! And please do send in any pics of you wearing the merch!
Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own comments on:
We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!
Follow us on social media!
Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO
Facebook:DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic
Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic
Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: Alan - @Hadalbloke, Thom - @ThomLinley, Georgia - @geeinthesea
Instagram: Georgia - @geeinthesea
Read the show notes and find out more about us at:
Links
Chuck’s article on hydrothermal vent communities
Chuck’s article on cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico
Deep sea species on Australian coins
Alan’s new paper on müllspuren.
Deep sea sandwiches, in the news and the original published article
Most deep-sea microbes are inactive, in the news and the original published article
Top 10 Deep sea Creatures 2022
James Cameron comes on the podcast
Oly and Opi: The curious octopus twins children’s story
Oli Frost - The Pirate Emergency
Credits
Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel
Logo image - Image courtesy of Chuck Fisher and WHOI
Glossary
Annelid - The name for segmented worms.
Biogeography - The study of the present and past distribution patterns of biological diversity and their underlying environmental and historical causes.
Calcareous - Containing calcium carbonate.
Escarpia - A genus of tube worm found at cold seeps.
Invasive species - An organism that typically causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native.
Lamellibrachia - A type of cold seep tubeworm related to the giant tube worm, Riftia pachyptila
Larvae - A juvenile form before transforming into adults.
Lebensspuren - Meaning “life-traces”, an ecological term referring to the tracks made by benthic organisms.
Müllspuren - “Meaning “bag-traces”, referring to the unnatural traces plastic bags leave behind on the seafloor.
Osedax - Bone-eating worms which live in the deep sea, typically on whale carcasses.
Riftia pachyptila - The giant tubeworm found at hydrothermal vents in the deep-sea.
Symbiotic - A mutually beneficial relationship between different organisms.
Trophosome - specialised sac in tube worms where chemosynthetic bacteria are housed
Vestimentiferan tubeworm - A taxon of marine deep-sea worm-like animals living in chitinous tubes and lack a digestive tract.