Marine restoration is the helping hand that nature needs in the battle against biodiversity loss and also a way to offset human impacts in the ocean. But the benefits can be more than ecological. In this episode, we welcome Peter Watson of SSEN Transmission, the company responsible for laying new power cables on our seabed as part of the de-carbonising of our energy grid. There's much more it wants to do, beyond rebuilding the energy infrastructure, with a little help from science. Pete...

With a global human population in excess of eight billion, governments and planners are looking to aquaculture to provide food security in a sustainable way. But this is a diverse global industry that comes in many forms, with various societal and ecological challenges. In this episode, two of the academics behind a highly-rated aquaculture Masters Degree, ACES, reflect on 10 years of the programme, designed to train the industry and academic leaders of the future. Profs. E...

Oceanographers spend a lot of time exploring the deep sea, but what is it really like taking measurements in the middle of the ocean and how is it done? In this episode real-life Octonauts, Drs Neil Fraser and Lewis Drysdale, explain to Euan how detailed ocean observations give us an insight into the changing climate. They also describe how the latest technology has become a game changer in the quest for more data, more quickly as we seek more accurate climate forecasts. The Ocean Explo...

Images of a seahorse clutching a cotton bud, or a marine mammal choking on a plastic bag provoke shocking and saddening reactions - but how much change is made as a result? As they discover a new plastic threat to mangrove habitats on the Ghanaian coast, SAMS scientists Prof. Bhavani Narayanaswamy and Dr Geslaine Lemos Concalves explain the extent of plastic pollution in our ocean and what we can do to mitigate some of the worst impacts. Find out how plastic has reached every corner of the oc...

A discovery in the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean has been challenging the scientific consensus of how oxygen is produced and has even called into question how life on Earth began. Photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae use energy from sunlight to create the planet’s oxygen. But new evidence published by Prof. Andrew Sweetman and collaborators, including his former PhD student Dr Danielle de Jonge, has shown how oxygen is also produced in complete darkness at the seafloor 4,000 metr...

From creating the atmosphere that led to life on Earth, to providing food for the entire ocean food web, plankton have been pivotal to the world we know today. Indeed, by absorbing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, they have been protecting us from the worst effects of global warming. But do plankton get the credit they deserve..? Find out from guests Prof Paul Tett and Dr Callum Whyte why plankton are the planet's hidden heroes and why we don't know enough about them. What is the ocean rea...

They are giants of the sea in northern Europe, yet not many people have heard of them, let alone seen any... The flapper skate, considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is faring relatively well within a Marine Protected Area off the west coast of Scotland, but the future for the wider population looks more bleak. In this episode, we speak to experts Dr Steven Benjamins of SAMS and Dr Jane Dodd of NatureScot to find out more about this secretive skate. Hea...

We've all heard creepy noises in the forest, but you probably haven't heard one like this... In this episode, we hear an artist's take on what a kelp forest looks like below the water surface and listen to a 'creepy' sound from the beneath waves as host Euan Paterson meets SAMS artist-in-residence Helena Hunter and marine ecologist Alasdair O'Dell. We discuss how science helps art, and vice-versa, and find that although they have very different methods of collecting 'data', artists and scient...

In part two of our season-opening episode, SAMS Director Prof. Nick Owens talks to host Euan Paterson and guest co-host Ross Lupton about his time as Director of the prestigious British Antarctic Survey. He also shares his thoughts on the future of the ocean and how a change at boardroom level could make the environmental outlook a little better. We also get answers to the big questions of the day, like: which sea creature would he ride into battle?! The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by...

To kick off season two of the Ocean Explorer podcast, host Euan Paterson and guest co-host Ross Lupton, an undergraduate student at SAMS, quiz SAMS Director Prof. Nick Owens on how marine science has changed over the decades. In this part one of our interview, we ask Prof. Owens: how does his student experience compare, how has academia changed and did his generation of scientists not see climate change coming?! We also discuss the effect of climate change on young scientists and how preval...

Whether it's an attack by another marine creature, or disorientation in a noisy ocean, there are various reasons for marine mammals to wash up on the shoreline. So how do we find out the cause of each stranding? The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) undertakes forensic investigations into strandings around the Scottish coast. Its work complements marine mammal research at institutes like SAMS and helps to piece together what's happening in the unseen underwater world. In this ep...

A superfood, a sustainable source of fuel and an overall environmentally-friendly industry; there's plenty to like about seaweed farming! But following some recent unsuccessful planning applications in the UK, it seems that 'green' credentials alone may not be enough to ensure industry growth. As seaweed farmers grapple with issues of scaling up and cost in the UK and Europe, will the industry ever realise its full potential? And what else should be done to win public approval? In this epis...

Can whales be famous? Are they becoming more of less common in our coastal waters? How are they affected by climate change and pollution? Despite being among the largest creatures on the planet, whales can be difficult to monitor, given the distances they travel and the time they spend below the sea surface. In this episode, we welcome Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust Director Alison Lomax to talk about the organisation's crucial survey work in Scotland's west coast waters and how this mat...

It's all contained within a yellow case, the size of a small suitcase, but the SIMBA instrument is revolutionising the way scientists measure ice melt rate and thickness and, more recently, how they assess avalanche and flood risk. SIMBA, or Snow Ice Mass Balance Apparatus, is developed and built by SAMS Enterprise and now has a number of applications. The research and development into this technology, spearheaded by senior engineer Phill Thompson, has seen it been deployed by avalanche fore...

Marine heatwaves are becoming more common and more intense. They can have devastating effects on ocean life, particularly corals and other species that are fixed in one location. This year, large parts of the ocean have been at a state of near permanent heatwave, with one particular heatwave off northern UK, lasting 237 days, from August 2022 to April 2023. To learn more, we speak to Prof Mike Burrows, part of the research team that defined the term 'marine heatwave', and oceanographer ...

A typical image of a whale is a majestic creature cruising through the deep and vast ocean. But our coastal seas contain unseen hazards, including creel lines, in which they can become entangled. Continuing our #WhaleTalk series, we meet Susannah Calderan and Dr Steven Benjamins to discuss the extent of the whale entanglement problem and reveal how a collaboration between researchers and fishermen may have come up with the solution. The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by the Scottish...

Introducing the new Ocean Explorer podcast from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), an ocean research institute and partner of UHI based in Oban. In this episode, part of our #WhaleTalk campaign, host Euan Paterson speaks to marine mammal experts Dr Denise Risch and Dr Nienke van Geel to find out how they listen to whales and dolphins, what they can learn from the sounds, and how the arts can help to communicate their science. We also find out what inspired them to begin...