031 - Hydrothermal vents with Charles ”Chuck” Fisher

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 tube worm 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!

Check out our podcast merch here! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron and a much anticipated new design...

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

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

Twitter: @DeepSeaPod, @ArmatusO

Facebook: DeepSeaPodcast, ArmatusOceanic

Instagram: @deepsea_podcast, @armatusoceanic

Keep up with the team on social media

We’ve been off-piste for a while now so we thought we’d jump straight back into the deep sea with a series of episodes on deep-sea habitats. We’re starting off strong with a huge episode on seamounts! We speak to a friend of the show, Ashley Rowden who’s an expert in all-things benthic and we find out why seamounts are just so cool. We also get a little distracted and reminisce about the ultimate offshore championship: sausage-fest.

We get to hear from the scientists on board the RRS Discovery who are currently on an expedition to discover the life that exists on the seamounts surrounding St Helena and the Ascension Islands. A couple of our friends on board also recall their ‘crossing the line’ experience, and how they’re finding working on board a research vessel.

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! A perfect gift this holiday season for the whole family.

Check out our podcast merch here! Which now includes Alan’s beloved apron and a much anticipated new design...

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

podcast@armatusoceanic.com

We’d love to actually play your voice so feel free to record a short audio note!

We are also on

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:

www.armatusoceanic.com

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.

Links

Chuck’s research group

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

James Cameron comes on the podcast

Top 10 Deep sea Creatures 2022

Oly and Opi: The curious octopus twins children’s story

Jake Hewitt photography

Oli Frost - The Pirate Emergency

Youtube

Spotify

Credits

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel

Logo image

Image courtesy of Chuck Fisher and WHOI