Episode 2 of The Deep-Sea Podcast is finally here!

In it we have an amazing interview with Don Walsh. In 1960, Don and Jacques Piccard were the first to reach the ocean’s deepest point – Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the bathyscaphe Trieste.

Don tends to get asked the same questions about the dive but he is full of other stories at least as interesting, including getting a tour of the heavens from his old dive buddy Arthur C. Clark, almost joining the Apollo Program and being involved in the first remote sensing of our oceans from space. He is still passionate about science and communication and we discuss how important storytelling is when sharing science.

We also discuss how information about the deep sea seems to talk about the ‘loss’ of life as you go deeper and that it is not strictly true. We also challenge the idea that the Marian Trench has ‘virtually unknown characteristics’.

We finish off with a ‘tale from the high seas’ where even on one of the most advanced vessels in the world, if you cross the equator for the first time you may have an old maritime traditions sprung on you!