This is the final episode of this season of Catch Our Drift and it’s all about the deep ocean, and whether we should be mining it? 

Not so long ago, people genuinely thought the deep ocean was a vast void space empty of life. But as scientists have explored deeper, it’s become clear that there’s life all the way down to the very greatest depths many miles beneath the waves. And there are also great mineral riches down there. And there are plans in the pipeline for mining the seabed. Dr Diva Amon tells us more about what is at the very bottomof the ocean and why this remote, unseen part of th planet matters to us all. And we ask Gerard Baron, Chairman and CEO of the The Metals Company, about his company’splans to open the world’s first deep seabed mines.

This week we’re diving into the language, words and stories of the seas. Since time immemorial, people have been inspired by the ocean, to imagine and understand what lies beneath the waves, and to build connections to this vital place by finding words and stories that speak of the ocean and why it all matters; with special guests Manchán Magan, Monique Roffey and Kirti Ramesh

This week on Catch Our Drift, we are exploring the parallel realms of Outer Space and Inner Space as we gaze at the stars and also turn our eyes downwards to contemplate the vast ocean depths.

We’re delighted to be joined by astronaut and aquanaut Kathy Sullivan – the only woman to have walked both in space and descend to the ocean’s greatest depth.  Who better to tell us about both worlds?   Fabien Cousteau shares his plans to build Proteus, the ocean’s equivalent of the International Space Station, an underwater habitat that will enable aquanauts to live on the seabed for weeks at a time.  And ice cream seller turned oceanographer Craig Donlon discusses his work at the European Space Station monitoring the impacts of climate change on our ocean from space.

Our ocean is the largest biome on  earth making up over 95% of the space for life on the planet. And where there is life there is sound. This week on Catch Our Drift we are talking about the sound of the ocean, listening to music inspired by the ocean and asking what musicians can be doing to highlight the plight of our ocean. We’ll be hearing from Lauren Sullivan and Adam Gardner about the inspirational work they are doing uniting musicians such as Jack Johnson and Billie Eilish and their fans to tackle the environmental impact of touring. Explorer, scientist, musician and DJ Ben Mirin explains what we can learn from the health of our ocean and acoustic ecologist and musician Cosmo Sheldrake shares his favourite ocean sounds with us.

Have you watched Seaspiracy on Netflix? Love it or loathe it, it has certainly got people talking about the issue of overfishing….  Many have now pledged to give up eating fish, others are outraged by what they see as inaccuracies and misrepresentation of the issues around fishing and sustainability.  So of course, we have to talk about it on a longer then normal Catch Our Drift. We’ll be discussing the film and also about some of the most inspiring and innovating sustainable fishing stories we have found from around the globe.

This week it’s all about the ocean and health and we have three incredible guests joining us.

We’re talking mental health with Jason Fox - former UK Special Forces Marine Commando and now TV presenter and mental health campaigner. Bhakti Sharma from Rajasthan in India has swum in all five oceans and eight seas and holds the world record for the longest swim in Antarctic waters - she tells us about the inspirational power of open water swimming and finally we dive into the science with Dr Jo Garrett to explore why being by the sea - and in fact all blue spaces - is good for health and well being.

On Catch Our Drift this week Helen and Oliver are talking all about art – how art can inspire and challenge our perceptions of the ocean, our planet and ourselves and also  be a driver for conservation and change.  They are talking to some influential artists who are leading the way, showing us how art is not only something to enjoy and ignite people’s imagination, but it can also create spaces out in the real world where conservation takes place.

Love them, hate them or fear them, this week on Catch Our Drift is all about sharks.  These apex predators are fundamental for the health of our ocean.  We’ll be talking to presenter and naturalist Steve Backshall about his many wonderful shark encounters and how to protect them, David Shiffman will be nerding out on cool shark facts and busting shark myths and Jaida Elcock will tell us about the organisation she has set up to increase the representation of women of colour in shark science.

This week on Catch Our Drift we are focussing on the ocean and sport. Oliver and Helen are interviewing some of the world’s greats about their relationship with the ocean. Formula One champion Nico Rosberg tells us about his new sustainable racing venture, Extreme E, and his own drive to improve the planet. We talk to Miranda Merron from the middle of the Atlantic as she races in the solo round the world yacht race, the Vendée Globe and World Freediving Champion Alenka Artnik tells us about how it feels to be diving alone on just a single breath of air at tremendous depth.

In the very first episode of Catch Our Drift podcast Helen Scales and Oliver Steeds will be bringing you amazing stories of survival – survival at sea but also survival of our sea. We are joined by Chris Lemons, who got about as close to oblivion at the bottom of the ocean as is humanly possible, author Ian Urbina who has some shocking stories of human slavery and survival at sea and Umbrella Academy’s Robert Sheehan sings a hearty sea shanty with Devon’s Mariner’s Away.