Join Professor Alan Jamieson, one of our venerated hosts, for a special cross over episode with our friends at Oceanography. This hadal trenches primer episode is a great overview for a first time deep-diver, taking you to the deepest parts of our favorite habitat.

Ocean trenches are Earth’s deepest habitats—and they’re full of life. This episode is a guided dive into the hadal zone (6,000–11,000 meters), where tectonic plates create steep trenches that plunge toward the mantle. Learn what trenches are geologically, what conditions are like at full ocean depth (cold, pressure, darkness), and why the deep sea isn’t a single ecosystem—each trench is its own world. You’ll also get myth-busting on how “the abyss” shows up in pop culture, plus an inside look at the technology that makes trench science possible: multibeam mapping, baited landers, and human-occupied submersibles. Finally, we explore the big research questions scientists are asking about biodiversity, evolution, and connectivity across the deepest ocean.

Special thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for sponsoring this episode.

Episode Guest: Professor Alan Jamieson

Browse Professor Jamieson’s publications on Google Scholar

Visit the Hadal Zone Deep Sea Research Center and follow their work on Instagram

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website

Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia

Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

Join Dr. Thom Linley, one of our venerated hosts, for a special cross over episode with our friends at Oceanography. This deep-sea primer episode is a great overview for a first time deep-diver, taking you to the very heart of our favorite habitat.

What is the deep sea — really? Deep-sea researcher Dr. Thom Linley (Curator of Fishes at Te Papa Tongarewa, National Museum of New Zealand) breaks down the deep ocean as a connected world with distinct zones, ecosystems, and rules — not one mysterious “blob.” From the bathyal and abyssal to the hadal trenches, this conversation maps what’s down there, how life survives crushing pressure and perpetual darkness, and why the deep sea functions as the engine under the hood of the entire planet.

This episode explores:

• What counts as “deep sea” (and why the definition is changing)
• The major deep-sea zones and how they blend into each other
• Whale falls — the deep ocean’s sudden “feast events” and the strange life they power
• Why trenches can be food-rich funnels (and why that matters)
• How deep-sea animals adapt at the molecular level (cells, fats, enzymes)
• The technology that makes deep-sea science possible: landers, traps, cameras, and autonomous systems
• The reality of deep-sea pollution: plastic and “forever chemicals” showing up even at extreme depths
• Why museum collections are time capsules for future ocean science

If you’re into thoughtful mythbusting, weird deep-ocean ecology, and the real logistics of studying a place humans can barely access — you’re in the right place.

Special thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for sponsoring this episode.

Episode Guests: Dr. Thomas Linley

Browse Dr. Linley’s publications on Google Scholar

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media website

Follow Pine Forest Media on Instagram @pineforestmedia

Hosted, produced, and edited by Clark Marchese

Cover art by Jomiro Eming

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

Check out our lovely new website where you can find more detailed notes, images and links to the wider reading.

This month on the Deep-Sea Podcast, we are joined by Dr Nigel Merrett for a career spotlight episode highlighting his pioneering research, genre-defining technological advancements and personal connections with some of the most well-known names in the deep-sea research community.

Welcome back to the Deep-Sea Podcast, your punk take on all things deep sea!

Our guest this month is Dr. Nigel Merrett, a British zoologist, ichthyologist, and former director of the fish section of the British Natural History Museum. In our first career spotlight episode, we shine a light on Nigel’s incredible and adventurous past, including working on the last British whaling ship, developing ground-breaking gear that is still used today, and working with some of the most impactful names in deep-sea history. Nigel shines a light on his incredible past, the importance of his work, and how we can all build on the work of others to advance science once step at a time.

The podcast is self-sustaining (just) thanks to our lovely listeners. Thom and Alan take no money for the show. All money is put back into running it. Here’s a link to our page on how to support us, from the free options to becoming a patron of the show. We want to say a huge thank you to those patrons who have already pledged to support us:

Maxim

Check out our podcast merch here!

Feel free to get in touch with us with questions or your own tales from the high seas on:

podcast@deepseapod.com

We’d love to actually play your voice, so feel free to record a short audio note on our brand new answerphone!

https://www.speakpipe.com/deepseapodvoicemail

Thanks again for tuning in; we’ll deep-see you next time!

BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley

Thom - @thom.linley

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

Thom @thomaslinley.com

Alan @hadalbloke

Interview Links

The Whalefish Mystery |

Deep Sea Demersal Fish and Fisheries

Nigel Merret Wikipedia

WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Careproctus merretti Andriashev & Chernova, 1988

Historical Perspective Paper: Dan Morris Cohen

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel