It's a Jungle Down There

Hello and welcome back to Polar Times. Our guest today is marine biologist and biogeographer Huw Griffiths from the British Antarctic Survey! Huw is interested in the benthic (seafloor) organisms of polar places and talks about the recent discovery of new life filmed down a borehole, deep under the Antarctic sea ice. He chats to Jack about the significance of such a finding: why is it surprising? What does it mean for our understanding of the polar depths? He also speaks about the logistical challenges of studying this region, the time the RV Polarstern (of MOSAiC fame) took its life in its hand to explore an icy Grand Canyon, and why in general sea pigs rule and penguins drool.

And that’s just part one! Join us in part two of the interview to hear about Huw experiences in the field and all about polar science communication!

As always, if you would like to get in contact with Polar Times to recommend a guest, volunteer to be a guest, give us some feedback or just ask a question then you can email us (thesearepolartimes@gmail.com) or tweet APECS @Polar_Research any time- we would love to hear from you.

Episode edited by Elise Gallois

Cover art by Matthew Nelson

Music: "Scuba" by Metre, Nul Tiel Records, UK (unaltered) CC BY-NC-SA