Deep-Sea Career Spotlight with Dr. Nigel Merrett

Episode Summary

This month on the Deep-Sea Podcast, we are joined by Dr Nigel Merrett for a career spotlight episode highlighting his pioneering research, genre-defining technological advancements and personal connections with some of the most well-known names in the deep-sea research community.

Check out our lovely new website where you can find more detailed notes, images and links to the wider reading.

In this episode…

Welcome back to the Deep-Sea Podcast, your punk take on all things deep sea!

This month, Thom is in Antarctica, trying to lure a giant squid into his research gear, and Alan is headed back to the Canary Islands after an international skirmish scuttled his travel plans. Our guest this month is Dr. Nigel Merrett, a British zoologist, ichthyologist, and former director of the fish section of the British Natural History Museum. In our first career spotlight episode we shine a light on Nigel’s incredible and adventurous past, including working on the last British whaling ship, developing ground-breaking gear that is still used today, and working with some of the most impactful names in deep-sea history. Nigel shines a light on his incredible past, the importance of his work, and how we can all build on the work of others to advance science once step at a time.

In the news, get ready for updates on:

• A massive cold-water coral reef off the coast of Argentina
• Crowdsourcing a new species name
• New research on deep-sea fish eyes
• Parasitic Barnacles
• Antarctic sleeper shark

We hear from Meghan Jones, cofounder of the Unseen Ocean Collective, with an update on the Juneau, Alaska, show, and the upcoming show and public events happening in Spokane, Washington, in April of 2026.

Discord update

• A common toad Valentine’s Day Party
• Branching snakes, and mystery gremlins.
• Museum dinosaur exhibits
• Parasitic louse mouth orgies
• Probability of Alan being a robot

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Reference list News

Deep-Sea News

Deep Below Argentina's Coast, Researchers Filmed Coral Cities, Rare Sea Ghost, and Something Out of Place

8,000 Suggestions Later, a Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Species Gets Its Name

Scientists discover a completely new life form wreaking havoc on deep-sea sharks

On the Origin of a Novel Parasitic-Feeding Mode within Suspension-Feeding Barnacles - ScienceDirect

Shark filmed in Antarctica for the first time | Polar Journal

Discord Updates

Unseen Ocean Collective Juneau Exhibit

Video of the Unseen Ocean Juneau Alaska Show

All the Fish Names Entymology Podcast

BBC Audio | In Our Time | The Mariana Trench

Interview Links

The Whalefish Mystery |

Deep Sea Demersal Fish and Fisheries

Nigel Merret Wikipedia

WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Careproctus merretti Andriashev & Chernova, 1988

Historical Perspective Paper: Dan Morris Cohen

Credits

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