SWIMMING WITH THE POD

Ocean swimming... in plastic pollution

It is estimated that ocean plastics will outweigh ocean fish by 2050, according to a study by the World Economic Forum. There are at least 5.25 trillion plastic pieces floating in the oceans right now.
Dr. Jennifer Lavers is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. She is a marine eco-toxicologist with expertise in tropical and temperate seabird ecology, plastic pollution (marine debris), invasive species management, and fisheries by-catch. Her research examines how marine apex predators, such as seabirds, act as sentinels of ocean health, and focuses on pollutants of aquatic ecosystems such as plastic, heavy metals, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and radionuclides. She is also very interested in science and conservation outreach.
Jennifer also has an Erdos-Bacon number, as a star of the stage and screen, as well as of academia!
I chatted to Jennifer about her work, starting with her article This South Pacific island of rubbish shows why we need to quit our plastic habit. 
Songs in this episode - all licensed under a Creative Commons License
Happy Life - Fredji
Acoustic guitar arrangement for song - TRow
A new beginning - Bensound
Buddha - Kontekst
Sapphire - Tobu

Ocean swimming... on other planets

Can you ocean swim on other planets? Perhaps! Water is far more common in the Universe than you might think, and there are many other oceans out there, even on our neighbours in our own solar system.
Associate Professor Jonti Horner is an astronomer and astrobiologist who works in the Computational Engineering and Science Research Centre at the University of Southern Queensland. We caught up at the Australian Space Research Conference.
It is currently thought that there are oceans deep beneath the surface of some of Jupiter's and Saturn's moons, as well as astonishingly, on asteroids and Pluto. The Saturnian moon Titan, as well as likely having a subsurface water ocean, may have standing hydrocarbon oceans on its surface. Mars and Venus may have had oceans in the past. And it's almost certain that outside the solar system, there are planets just like Earth with vast water oceans. Could these locations be the home of future extreme sports?
We also chatted about publically funded science, future space missions and the future of Earth.
Songs in this episode - all licensed under a Creative Commons License:
Moon - LEMMiNO
Free Your Soul - SIRPRICE
Tonic and Energy - Elexive
Sapphire - Tobu
 

Ocean swimming... with flesh-eating sea lice

A Melbourne man recently emerged from the ocean with his legs covered in blood seeping from thousands of tiny wounds.
Dr. Murray Thomson from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at The University of Sydney, thinks that Cirolana harfordi, a small crustacean that lives on the coast and in rivers, may have been to blame. These creatures have been known to take down sharks, have bitten divers on the face and have even skeletonised the top half of a human, using their slicing, guillotine-like mouth parts. If they're around where you're swimming, you've probably got about 10 minutes to get out of the water!
I chatted to Murray about his research into these fascinating (terrifying...) creatures, their various types and behaviours, as well as their evolution and precautions you should take if you think there may be Cirolanids around.
Songs in this episode - all licensed under a Creative Commons License:
Dubstep - Bensound
Adventures - A Himitsu
Acoustic guitar arrangement for song - TRow
Sapphire - Tobu