061: Trench Nutrient Cycling with Ronnie N. Glud

August 3rd, 2025

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We are going to slightly pivot the subject of the podcast. You would hardly notice but now the show is mainly about building raised flowerbeds.

While not building far superior flowerbeds, Alan has been visiting graveyards to find loads of famous deep-sea people, and Thom has been avoiding lead poisoning at his brand new, but somehow also old and rickety, house.

This episode is absolutely bursting with news so make sure to scroll down to the Further Resources section for all the links and information!

To start off; Alicella gigantea is having a great month, the wiki page that was updated last month by Shaun and Alan during a Deep-Sea Podcast Patreon collaboration, was hosted on the main Wikipedia page as a featured article. Alicella was also featured on Radio New Zealand's’ critter of the week.

Alicella - Wikipedia

Become a Patron and join our Deep-Sea Discord Community!

Professor Alan Jamieson discusses his recent "food for thought" paper that challenges the long-held 200-meter definition, arguing for a more scientifically relevant boundary of 1,000 meters. Find out why this seemingly arbitrary line might be doing "a lot of damage" to our understanding and attitude towards the deep sea.

Our Guest this month is Professor Ronnie N. Glud, a leading biochemist and Director of the Danish Centre for Hadal Research (HADAL). This is a fascinating episode about trench mud that was previously thought to be devoid of life but now revealed by Professor Glud and his team as dynamic hotspots for biological activity and intensified element cycling

We hear from Jason Fahy, the project lead for NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute all about searching for Shipwrecks in Lake Ontario.

An exciting project charting shipwrecks in the Great Lakes using cutting-edge ROV technology for 3D modelling.

Friend of the show Moku Art Studio is hosting a series of Reef Chats in collaboration with Sustainable Ocean Alliance. You can find the first of these chats, which focuses on the Deep-Sea and features a fun and casual conversation between scientist Paola Santiago Padua, and artist Meghan Jones, on Youtube.

Some of our featured News Articles and an exciting Art/Science Collaboration opportunity from the Deep-Sea Biology Society

New deep-sea species named after ONE PIECE characterFound 6 km beneath the Pacific, the limpet's unusually large size inspired its name.

Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities ExpeditionsNOAA is leading multi-partner expeditions to support restoration of seafloor habitats injured by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

If you are interested in deep-sea and art collaboration then check out a new Art Sea Initiative through the Deep Sea Biology Society!

Japan's scientists find bioplastic that vanishes 80% even in deep seaA new study reveals LAHB, a microbial lactate‑based polyester, degraded over 80% in deep‑sea conditions at 855 m in 13 months.

We have a new Answerphone!

Ever heard Thom ask you to leave a voice message on the podcast and haven't the time to figure out how? Well we now have a handy message box widget right on the site (see below) where you can record a message for Thom and Al!