007 - Human impact with Albert II, Prince of Monaco

We impact the deep sea in many ways we don’t realise. Some are deliberate, some are accidental, some we didn’t even notice at the time. We talk about ways we have impacted the deep sea and touch on the huge problem that is marine plastic, a particular problem in the isolated Mediterranean Sea. His serene highness Prince Albert II of Monaco tells us about his experience diving to the deepest point in the Mediterranean, the Calypso Deep (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calypso_Deep) and his Beyond Plastic Med

(https://www.beyondplasticmed.org/en/) initiative.

To solve these problems sometimes we have to ask ourselves difficult questions. There often isn’t right and wrong but shades of grey and nothing is ever as simple as it seems. How much of the deep sea would you sacrifice if it solved climate change? This may not be as hypothetical as it sounds.

You can submit your own ‘tails from the high seas’ about an experience you have had offshore or pose us a question/comment on:

[email protected]

Theme – Hadal Zone Express by Märvel (http://marvel.nu/)

Links

Mercury paper:

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/47/29292

Sam’s work and his podcast:

https://www.samillingworth.com/

Eurythenes plasticus video:

https://youtu.be/phAFW05eKI8

Eurythenes plasticus educational resources:

https://www.plasticus.school/en/

2020 Grand Prix for Good:

https://www2.eurobest.com/winners/2020/gp4g/

Carbon storage paper:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217318878

Mesozoic Ocean:

https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/11283/paleo_TAKASHIMA_et_al-2006.pdf

Deep-Sea observatories:

http://www.poseidon.hcmr.gr/eurosites/about.php

Deep Mediterranean paper:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-018-3413-0

Beyond Plastic Med:

https://www.beyondplasticmed.org/en/