Seaweed People

Ep 25 🐙🌱 In part 2 of this chat with marine ecologist Zoe Doubleday, we start by asking - is eating a giant cuttlefish OK?! Among many things, Zoe’s contributed research to cephalopod fisheries and octopus aquaculture. She shares insights into the opportunities and challenges of humans starting to farm a new animal for the first time, and whether Australia’s new seafood labeling regulations are enough.

Zoe Doubleday is a marine ecologist who leads the Marine Research for Innovative Solutions Lab at Adelaide University (www.marislab.org). She’s an awarded ‘Superstar of STEM’, and is driven by a mission to ensure that science reaches communities, and is not hidden behind closed doors.

You can find Zoe on LinkedIn or @drzoedoubleday on Instagram. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people, follow Quiet Night on Substack or buy a hoodie here! Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Dr Zoe Doubleday - Instagram
Zoe’s Linked In
MARIS Lab (Marine Research for Innovative Solutions)
GoodFish Sustainable Seafood Guide
New seafood country-of-origin labelling in Australian hospitality venues (ABC)
New seafood labelling - info for restaurants and suppliers
False Bay's great white sharks have vanished, and the answer may be in our fish and chips (ABC) and the radio doco is here

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal & Bidjigal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 24 🫧🦑 Giant cuttlefish! This episode’s for you if you’re a cephalopod head , if you’re curious how octopus or cuttlefish can change textures or colours, and if you want to know what it’ll take to list the world’s largest aggregation as a species of concern. We talk about the disappearance of the Spencer Gulf giant cuttlefish aggregation this year, and some of the solutions and interventions that have been tested to mitigate the impacts of the algal bloom in South Australia.

Zoe Doubleday is a marine ecologist who leads the Marine Research for Innovative Solutions Lab at Adelaide University. She’s an awarded ‘Superstar of STEM’, and is driven by a mission to ensure that science reaches communities, and is not hidden behind closed doors.

You can find Zoe on LinkedIn or @drzoedoubleday on Instagram. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people, follow/support Quiet Night on Substack or **buy a hoodie here!** Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Some links to things we covered in this ep:

MARIS Lab (Marine Research for Innovative Solutions)
Giant Australian Cuttlefish
Great Southern Reef Foundation - Giant Cuttlefish updates September 2026
The Conversation - Australia is home to the only mass cuttlefish gathering in the world. This year these giants didn’t return
SA Governments algal bloom info page
The bubble curtain

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal & Bidjigal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🧑‍🎨🪸 Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation for HoldFast! You’ll like this episode if you’re curious about the thermal tolerance of kelps and a vision of the near future from a molecular ecologist, if you want a first-hand account of managing a coral restoration project during a cyclone, if you find the word ‘hydrocommons’ alluring.

We hear from Leza Howie, Josephine Johnson and Nicole Steenhoff, three WA-based artists who have organised the HoldFast exhibition in Walyalup (Fremantle). We hear stories from Norway from Dr. Antoine Minne, dip into coral restoration with Research Director of WAMSI, Dr. Jenny Shaw, and - last but not least - we get an insight into asparagopsis (beyond the methane story!) from Tom Puddy, managing director of SeaStock.

Find out more about HoldFast here. Subscribe for updates or support the podcast at quietnightin.substack.com. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to guests and other stuff in this ep:

Leza Howie - artist
Nicole Steenhof - artist
Josephine Johnson - artist
Dr. Antoine Minne
Gecokelp Project - Kelp forests in the anthropocene
White Rock - short film by the Great Southern Reef Foundation
Bodies of Water, Human Rights and the Hydrocommons - Astrida Neimanis
SeaStock
SeaStock’s Asparagopsis red pigment

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal & Bidjigal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🧑‍🎨🪸 This conversation is SO full of seaweed people I had to split it into two episodes. You’ll like this part if you’re interested in kelp forests growing on ancient coral beds, Scottish seaweed mythology, seaweed robots and trumpets, biobanking, how kelp makes babies, and stories about connecting scientists with communities and artists.

We hear from two artists - Leza Howie and Josephine Johnson - who along with Nicole Steenhoff have organised the HoldFast exhibition in Walyalup (Fremantle) WA. Also joining us are molecular ecologist Dr. Antoine Minne and Research Director of WAMSI, Dr. Jenny Shaw.

Find out more about HoldFast here. Subscribe for updates or support the podcast at quietnightin.substack.com. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to guests and other stuff in this ep:

Leza Howie - artist
Josephine Johnson - artist
Dr. Antoine Minne
Abrolhos islands
Ecklonia brevipes
Dr. Jenny Shaw - Research Director, WAMSI
Seeing Change: A photographic story from Abrolhos fishers
The Nuckelavee (Scottish mythology)
The Tangie (Scottish mythology)
Posidonia Australia: Prototype for Listening - Catherine Higham

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal & Bidjigal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one’s for anyone who doesn’t want to consume 12kg of plastic, who likes the idea of the ocean as hero not victim, who’s into zines and radical imagination and composting. We're talking seaweed bioplastic! ♻️🦋

Sway is a material innovation company scaling compostable solutions for plastic made with seaweed. Their products match the performance of conventional plastics and plug into existing infrastructure - but unlike conventional plastics, Sway’s materials are made from regenerative seaweed and can be composted after use. Alyssa Pace, Sway’s Head of Marketing and Comms, is here to tell us all about it.

You can find Sway at swaythefuture.com on or socials @swaythefuture, and Alyssa on LinkedIn. Subscribe for updates or support the podcast at quietnightin.substack.com. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to other stuff in this ep:

Leah Thomas (Greengirl Leah - Intersectional environmentalism)
Four wings of movement collaboration (the butterfly) - Christine Tyler Hill
Leah Penniman - Soul Fire Farm
Creating a New Sargassum Value Chain in Puerto Rico | Newlab
Regenerative organic certification
SeaTrees
Native Conservancy
Sway - Impact & guiding principles
Macro Oceans
Sway x Umaro Foods - extracting proteins from seaweed and turning them to foods
Seaweed Stories film (Rewild/Lonely Whale)
HOPE! documentary (Javier Peña)

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal & Bidjigal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.