The Deep-Sea Podcast

Welcome to the PRESSURISED version of episode 65, just the science, none of the waffle
 

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

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

 

This month, we are talking giant testate protists, the coolest things you have probably never heard of. Giant cells on the deep seabed that can reach 20 cm or more. They build elaborate shells, and despite having known about them for hundreds of years, there are still loads we don't understand about them.

Support the show
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.

 

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:

[email protected]

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!

 

Find out more
Social media
BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

https://bsky.app/profile/deepseapod.com

 

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

https://twitter.com/DeepSeaPod

 

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

https://www.instagram.com/deepsea_podcast/

 

Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: 
Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

Instagram: 
Thom - @thom.linley 

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

BlueSky:
Thom @thomaslinley.com

 Alan @hadalbloke

Reference list
Interview Links
Paleodictyon - Wikipedia

 

Paleodictyon nodosum: A living fossil on the deep-sea floor

 

Massive occurrence of a new soft-walled monothalamous foraminifer, Bathyallogromia brandtae n.sp., in the hadal Aleutian trench

 

An Integrative Taxonomic Survey of Benthic Foraminiferal Species (Protista, Rhizaria) from the Eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone

Credits
Logo image: NOAA public domain

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

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

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

 

Thom and Alan discuss Christmas from opposite ends of the planet, where Alan gets ‘proper’ Christmas in Scotland with snow and everything. At the opposite end, Thom insists on using his new BBQ, despite a rainstorm turning the air to liquid.

The exhibit that Thom was curating, Breathe | Mauri Ora at Te Papa, is an examination of the intersection of science and art by Marshmallow Lazer Feast. It is open now if you find yourself in Wellington, New Zealand.

 

This month, we are talking giant testate protists, the coolest things you have probably never heard of. Giant cells on the deep seabed that can reach 20 cm or more. They build elaborate shells, and despite having known about them for hundreds of years, there are still loads we don't understand about them.

In the news, get ready for updates on:

Squids hiding under the sea floor, pretending to be plants

A rare seven-armed octopus sighting

Deep-sea art that highlights the effects of coral dredging

Missing zombie worms and expanding oxygen minimum zones

New Whale Tags helping with deep-sea data recovery

A massive white skate nursery and Canada’s first hydrothermal site

 

Discord update

The Deep-Sea Pets Channel continues to give back with excellent photos of our fav friends

Our Holiday party was a total success, with many episodes of Octonauts watched and ‘enjoyed’ by all

We assessed some of the ‘animal saving’ videos, as discussed by Tyler on the Mythbusting AI episode. 

Excellent Dragon-based book recommendations. 

We all wished we could visit Thom’s New show opening at Te Papa.

Thom shared a beautiful video about Antarctica from his Falkor Too trip last year. 

Planning a Time Machine to scuba dive ancient seas, study the squid therein, and then hop on a boat trip with Darwin. 

TBOS and KBOS brushes of science versus various squid photos. 

Compared holiday baking recipes 

Photos and observations shared from SOA divestream viewing

And, as always, vicarious travel to aquariums around the world!

Support the show
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.

 

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:

[email protected]

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!

 

Find out more
Social media
BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

https://bsky.app/profile/deepseapod.com

 

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

https://twitter.com/DeepSeaPod

 

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

https://www.instagram.com/deepsea_podcast/

 

Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: 
Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

Instagram: 
Thom - @thom.linley 

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

BlueSky:
Thom @thomaslinley.com

 Alan @hadalbloke

Reference list
News 
Deep Sea Valentines | Support Skype a Scientist with the Squid Facts shop!

 

Deep-Sea News

Unknown species of squid spotted burying itself upside down, pretending to be a plant

Rarely-Seen Seven-Arm 'Blob' Octopus Filmed by Underwater Camera | PetaPixel

Former submarine pilot's art highlights the deep sea | Hawai'i Public Radio

Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) | Kerby Illustrations

Zombie worms are missing and scientists are alarmed | ScienceDaily

Whale tag will help decode communication in the deep ocean - Earth.com

Scientists Uncover Massive Deep-Sea Eggs Inside on Active Volcano Thought to Be Extinct for Centuries

 

Discord Updates
Inside Breathe: Mauri Ora at Te Papa | RNZ

Crossing the Divide | Climate Connections at the Ice-Sea Interface

Interview Links
Paleodictyon - Wikipedia

 

Paleodictyon nodosum: A living fossil on the deep-sea floor

 

Massive occurrence of a new soft-walled monothalamous foraminifer, Bathyallogromia brandtae n.sp., in the hadal Aleutian trench

 

An Integrative Taxonomic Survey of Benthic Foraminiferal Species (Protista, Rhizaria) from the Eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone

Credits
Song of the month: It is that deep, bro by Matt Storer

Logo image: NOAA public domain

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Welcome to the PRESSURISED version of episode 64, just the science, none of the waffle
PRESSURISED: Cephstravanganza with Professor Kat Bolstad  | The Deep-Sea Podcast | Episode 64

Episode Summary
In our newest episode, we join roving reporter Kat Bolstad at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council in Okinawa and hear from some of the most interesting people in Cephalopod research. 

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

 

In this episode…
Our episode this month is a fascinating collection of interviews from the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Meeting that took place Oct-Nov in Okinawa Japan. Join Kat Bolstad, our roving reporter, as she takes time between bug hunting, seeing her first wild cuttlefish and shaking hands with a new octopus friend to collect interviews with some of the coolest names in Ceph science with a focus on the deep-sea. We hear from 12 Cephalopod experts on a wide variety of topics, including the preferred snacks for cephalopods, the effects of oxygen depletion on egg hatching, water temperature and acidification effects on cephalopod populations, and of course, the correct answer to the viral question: are octopuses actually ALIENS?

 

Support the show
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:

Elisabeth Grace Diemer

Nes Morgan

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:

[email protected]

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!

Find out more
Social media
BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

https://bsky.app/profile/deepseapod.com

 

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

https://twitter.com/DeepSeaPod

 

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

https://www.instagram.com/deepsea_podcast/

 

Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: 
Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

Instagram: 
Thom - @thom.linley 

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

BlueSky:
Thom @thomaslinley.com

 Alan @hadalbloke

 

Reference list
Unseen Ocean Collective
Unseen Ocean Collective.

Unseen Ocean Collective (@unseenoceancollective) • Instagram photos and videos

https://bsky.app/profile/unseenocean.bsky.social

 

Interview Links
Kat’s Socials

Bluesky: @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

 

Sarah McAnulty

Skype a Scientist SkypeAScientist.com 

Squidfacts.net  

 

Kristina Fleetwood 

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

Décima lab website

 

Meg Mindlin

Invertibabe 

 

Toni’s socials 

Twitter,  

ResearchGate 

ORCID 

 

Toni’s Research Group

Funcionamiento y Vulnerabilidad de Ecosistemas Marinos | Institut de Ciències del Mar

 

Other Links
Breathe | Mauri Ora | Te Papa

@Tailsfromthedeep 

Global biodiversity of the genus Ommastrephes (Ommastrephidae: Cephalopoda): an allopatric cryptic species complex 

Mitochondrial genome diversity and population structure of the giant squid Architeuthis

Spatial ecology of Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus in Mediterranean deep-water environments: implications for designing no-take marine reserves (MEPS)

Diel and seasonal patterns of Nephrops norvegicus (Decapoda: Nephropidae) catchability in the western Mediterranean

Antarctic octos as records and predictors of climate-related changes in the Antarctic “Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment“ 

Danna Staaf books 

Cephalopod camouflage bibliography on Zotero

AUT Lab for Cephalopod Ecology & Systematics aka AUT ‘Squid Squad’

 

Cephalopod Images and Footage

Keishu Asada Instagram

CIAC 2025 website, programme, book of abstracts

https://www.ryo-minemizu.com/ 

Keishu Asada Marine Videos

Keishu Asada Instagram 

@PeterandtheOctopus 

 

Credits
Song of the month: Tornado of Souls, by Megadeth, performed by medium-sized Jamieson.

Logo image: Photo credit to Peter Morse @PeterAndTheOctopus 

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Episode Summary
In our newest episode, we join roving reporter Kat Bolstad at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council in Okinawa and hear from some of the most interesting people in Cephalopod research. 

 

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

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

The Professor is still down under, organizing conferences and recuperating from Old Mate’s Classic Aussie Sausage Sizzle, a robust event filled with friends of the podcast and still felt 24 hours later. 

 

Thom is freshly back from another big ocean/small boat adventure, in which the ocean always wins and his stomach always loses… everything. He is also stretching his creative muscles and curating an exciting new museum exhibit called Breathe | Mauri Ora at Te Papa, an examination of science into art by Marshmallow Lazer Feast. 

 

Our episode this month is a fascinating collection of interviews from the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Meeting that took place Oct-Nov in Okinawa Japan. Join Kat Bolstad, our roving reporter, as she takes time between bug hunting, seeing her first wild cuttlefish and shaking hands with a new octopus friend to collect interviews with some of the coolest names in Ceph science with a focus on the deep-sea. We hear from 12 Cephalopod experts on a wide variety of topics, including the preferred snacks for cephalopods, the effects of oxygen depletion on egg hatching, water temperature and acidification effects on cephalopod populations, and of course, the correct answer to the viral question: are octopuses actually ALIENS?

 

In the news, get ready for updates on:

Deep diving manta rays using the ocean bottom to navigate

A newly launched AI tool to map the Deep- Sea

Bright blue mud filled with fat molecules indicating life in the deep

Corals and Crinoids sharing symbionts and cycling nitrogen

And an update from the Unseen Ocean Collective about the work they are creating for a show in Juneau Alaska in 2026.

On the Discord, we’ve been busy with:

Voting on the Holiday Party movie

Started a long overdue ART channel, and a new Pets channel

Photo tours of submersibles and Okinawa 

Early Holiday celebrations by one of our hosts

Great feedback and conversation on our last episode. 

Support the show
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:

Elisabeth Grace Diemer

Nes Morgan

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:

[email protected]

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!

Find out more
Social media
BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

https://bsky.app/profile/deepseapod.com

 

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

https://twitter.com/DeepSeaPod

 

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

https://www.instagram.com/deepsea_podcast/

 

Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: 
Alan - @Hadalbloke

https://twitter.com/Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

https://twitter.com/ThomLinley

Instagram: 
Thom - @thom.linley 

https://www.instagram.com/thom.linley/

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

https://www.instagram.com/inkfishexpeditions/

BlueSky:
Thom @thomaslinley.com

https://bsky.app/profile/thomaslinley.com

 Alan @hadalbloke

https://bsky.app/profile/hadalbloke.bsky.social

 

Reference list
News 
Deep-Sea News

World's largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans

China launches AI tool for deep-sea research

Fat Molecules in Deep-Sea Mud Volcanoes Reveal How Microbes Survive Extreme Conditions | Discover Magazine

Putative promiscuous symbionts in deep-sea corals and crinoids may contribute to nitrogen cycling | Microbiome

 

Unseen Ocean Collective
Unseen Ocean Collective.

Unseen Ocean Collective (@unseenoceancollective) • Instagram photos and videos

https://bsky.app/profile/unseenocean.bsky.social

 
Discord Updates
Holiday Party! Join Patreon here to get access to the Holiday party!

 

Interview Links
Kat’s Socials

Bluesky: @autsquidsquad.bsky.social

 

Sarah McAnulty

Skype a Scientist SkypeAScientist.com 

Squidfacts.net  

 

Kristina Fleetwood 

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary

Décima lab website

Meg Mindlin

Invertibabe 

 

Toni’s socials 

Twitter,  

ResearchGate 

ORCID 

 

Toni’s Research Group

Funcionamiento y Vulnerabilidad de Ecosistemas Marinos | Institut de Ciències del Mar

 

Other Links
Breathe | Mauri Ora | Te Papa

@Tailsfromthedeep 

Global biodiversity of the genus Ommastrephes (Ommastrephidae: Cephalopoda): an allopatric cryptic species complex 

Mitochondrial genome diversity and population structure of the giant squid Architeuthis

Spatial ecology of Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus in Mediterranean deep-water environments: implications for designing no-take marine reserves (MEPS)

Diel and seasonal patterns of Nephrops norvegicus (Decapoda: Nephropidae) catchability in the western Mediterranean

Antarctic octos as records and predictors of climate-related changes in the Antarctic “Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment“ 

Danna Staaf books 

Cephalopod camouflage bibliography on Zotero

AUT Lab for Cephalopod Ecology & Systematics aka AUT ‘Squid Squad’

 

Cephalopod Images and Footage

Keishu Asada Instagram

CIAC 2025 website, programme, book of abstracts

https://www.ryo-minemizu.com/ 
Keishu Asada Marine Videos

Keishu Asada Instagram 

 
@PeterandtheOctopus 

 

Credits
Song of the month: Tornado of Souls, by Megadeth, performed by medium-sized Jamieson.

Logo image: Photo credit to Peter Morse @PeterAndTheOctopus 

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Welcome to the PRESSURISED version of episode 63, just the science, none of the waffle
PRESSURISED: Bioluminescent Symbiosis with Margaret McFall-Ngai | The Deep-Sea Podcast | Episode 63

 

Our guest this month is Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai, an animal physiologist and biochemist who is a staff researcher at Carnegie Institution for Science’s Division of Biosphere Sciences and Engineering, with her lab stationed at the California Institute of Technology in Biology and Biological Engineering. Dr. McFal-Ngai talks us through her work on the stable beneficial relationship between the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) and its partner, the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Although technically not a deep-sea species, this relationship and its details might help us understand how deep-sea life creates bioluminescence and the possible life cycle impacts for the creatures involved. 

 

Glossary
Crypt - The chambers within the squid's light organ.

 

Support the show
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:

Sophie Bagshaw

Laura

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:

[email protected]

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!

 

Find out more
Social media
BlueSky: @deepseapod.com

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast

 

Keep up with the team on social media
Twitter: 

Alan - @Hadalbloke

Thom - @ThomLinley 

Instagram: 

Thom - @thom.linley 

Inkfish - @inkfishexpeditions

BlueSky:

Thom @thomaslinley.com

 Alan @hadalbloke

 

Reference list
Interview Links
A lasting symbiosis: how the Hawaiian bobtail squid finds and

keeps its bioluminescent bacterial partner

A lasting symbiosis: how Vibrio fischeri finds a squid partner

and persists within its natural host

 

Credits
Logo image: Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai

Theme: Hadal Zone Express by Märvel