Dr Todd Bond is marine ecologist who goes where very few humans have ever been: the underworld, or the deep ocean. There, he studies the strange, scary and often cute creatures who call the deepest parts of our oceans home.

This part of the ocean starts at 6000 metres deep, and is known as the 'Hadal Zone'.

Todd travels there in a small titanium submersible, not much bigger than his own 6'4'' frame.

Waiting there for Todd, in the inky darkness, is mysterious and magic, and is still largely unexplored by humans.

And when he can't get there himself, Todd sends cameras down to poke around these trenches and caverns.

Dr Todd Bond is the Deputy Director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre at The University of Western Australia. You can read more about what the centre does online.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores fish, marine biology, marine science, Twiggy Forrest, deep sea, space, exploration, human curiosity, why fish matter, bio-medicine, submarines, OceanGate, Titan submersible implosion, James Cameron, Anglar Fish, snail fish, UWA, university, PhD, doctorate, how to study fish, why we study fish, Mariana Trench, Christmas Island, Java Trench, puffer fish, Antarctica, marine park, conservation, off-shore mining, manganese mining, deep sea mining, ethical science.

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