The Secret Life of Deep Sea Symbiosis

Bioluminescent water that glows brilliantly to the human eye, but nearly disappears on camera. Why is something so spectacular so difficult to film? In this special crossover episode from our sister podcast Green Frequency, environmental filmmaker and researcher Dr. Isabelle Carbonell takes us to Bio Bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico, one of the brightest bioluminescent bays on Earth. Through the science of bioluminescence and the history of underwater cinema, we explore how marine organisms produce light, why cameras struggle to capture it, and what happens when the ocean resists our attempts to make it visible. But there's more to this story than filmmaking. From the colonial history and military contamination of Vieques to questions of environmental justice, perception, and wonder, Dr. Carbonell challenges us to think about what it really means to see, understand, and protect the ocean.

Plastic is everywhere. We know that. But what can we actually do about it? In this episode of Oceanography, host Clark Marchese speaks with Dr. Anja Brandon, Director of Plastics Policy at Ocean Conservancy, to work backwards through the lifecycle of plastic and ask which solutions can actually make a difference.

Plankton made life on Earth possible. So why do we know so little about them? In this episode of Oceanography, Clark speaks with Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Adviser on the Oceans to the United Nations Global Compact and author of The Power of Plankton. Together, they dive into the extraordinary world of organisms drifting through our oceans, from their role in producing oxygen and shaping evolution to their influence on the carbon cycle, marine food webs, and ocean health. They also explore how new tools like environmental DNA, satellites, and AI are transforming plankton research, why plankton remain largely absent from environmental policy, and how understanding this mostly invisible ecosystem could reveal new ways to protect our oceans and our planet.

How do we measure the ocean? Nicolas Pade, executive director of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre, joins Oceanography to explore the technologies making ocean observation possible, from satellites and autonomous floats to biological sensors, imaging and AI. We examine what scientists can already measure, why marine biodiversity remains so difficult to observe, and how individual data points become baselines, models and predictions. Grounded in Blue Tech Europe 2026, the conversation also reveals what it takes to move an idea from the laboratory into an observing system operating at scale.

What does it mean to be queer in oceanography? In this special episode, nine LGBTQ+ scientists and ocean professionals share, in their own words, what it has meant to build lives and careers around the sea. Their work stretches from phytoplankton, deep-sea food webs, marine bioacoustics, and microbial ecology to ocean acidification, coastal pollution, fisheries, and marine protected areas. Across very different lives and disciplines, certain experiences begin to echo.