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 metres below the ocean surface, where no light can penetrate.

Now Prof. Sweetman is returning to the Pacific with custom-built equipment, thanks for funding from The Nippon Foundation, to find out how this phenomenon is occurring.

In this episode Prof. Sweetman and Dr de Jonge share their experience of making the Dark Oxygen discovery and the 'rollercoaster' they've experienced as their research paper continues to make global headlines.

The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), an ocean research charity and partner of UHI based in Oban.
In each episode, we take a deep dive into marine science topics with SAMS scientists and special guests.
Interested in working or studying with us, or helping with our work? Visit www.sams.ac.uk to find out more.

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 really like at the microscopic level, how is technology helping us see this in a different way, and what would be the cost (literally) of losing plankton from our seas..?

Find out more about UK research on plankton here: https://planktonandpeople.org/
View The Plankton Manifesto here: https://unglobalcompact.org/library/6242

The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), an ocean research charity and partner of UHI based in Oban.
In each episode, we take a deep dive into marine science topics with SAMS scientists and special guests.
Interested in working or studying with us, or helping with our work? Visit www.sams.ac.uk to find out more.

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. Hear about their their world-first discovery about the species, and their assessments of what the future might hold for its survival.

The Ocean Explorer podcast is produced by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), an ocean research charity and partner of UHI based in Oban.
In each episode, we take a deep dive into marine science topics with SAMS scientists and special guests.
Interested in working or studying with us, or helping with our work? Visit www.sams.ac.uk to find out more.