How To Protect The Ocean

Ocean protection is a key tool in managing oceans and its resources and it requires the support of all ocean users, but the one group is often ignored or left out of the process that can play a key role in protecting the ocean effectively. Indigenous groups have been protecting their oceans and lands for thousands of years and need to be included in conservation conversations. I am joined by Humna...

Northern right whales have been the subject of many conservation conversations over the past couple of months due to the decisions made around lobster and crab pot support for sustainability to protect the endangered species. Northern Right whales are heavily monitored, especially in the winter during their calving season. Two calves were spotted recently off the coast of Georgia providing some ho...

It's that time of year that is supposed to be one of the happiest times of the year. Students get a holiday for at least 2 weeks, people travel to see their families, and others stay local and make plans to meet up with friends who are home for a bit and meet up for family gatherings during special days throughout this holiday season. It's also a time when we buy and give gifts to family and frien...

We live in an interesting time. We have access to information at our fingertips whenever we want. It's a great opportunity to learn and interact with people all over the world. Of course, there are downfalls to social media as well as there are some great advantages. Scientists have the ability to share their work with people who do not have access to peer-reviewed papers. They also provide access...

If a shark dies in the ocean, where do we find its remains? Well, there could be many answers to that question, but for many sharks, you could find their teeth in one place that we know. A deep-sea graveyard was discovered off some islands in the Indian Ocean by the ocean research arm of Australia, the CSIRO. The discovery contained teeth of various shark species ranging from mako sharks to the re...

It seems to be a right of passage for people to buy or rent a home/apartment when they are ready. But have you ever thought if your home will contribute to Climate Change or help Climate Change? It's never really discussed, right? People go house hunting and discuss their needs and wants and worry as to whether they can afford their next living space. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a home that is...

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, it has become more of a cesspool of racism, sexism, and misinformation than it was pre-Elon and conversations are becoming more confrontational as people are trying to defend their points of view on both sides of issues. But Science Twitter has been a staple where most people get great information from colleagues or science celebrities to learn more about science an...

We will need to leverage Blue carbon (kelp, Seagrass, etc.) to help reduce climate change. Blue carbon can help absorb carbon 20 times or more than trees. There is an entire industry that is budding due to the potential revenue that may or may not end up in turning a profit. Regardless of the revenue, Blue Carbon is not in the right position to live a long, healthy life. So we need to protect the...

We tend to have a perception that working as a marine biologist requires us to be a professor at a university or work in Academia. But there are more options that could lead to a more rewarding career in your marine biology field of choice. Therefore, in this episode, I am going to present to you the options available that may not be the career paths you think you need to choose even though you ma...

Shark populations are being targeted in international waters by fishing fleets using legal fishing gear...sort of. The gear can target sharks that are in high demand for their fins, meat, and organs. Tens of thousands of metric tons of sharks are being fished annually reducing some populations by at least 70%. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which governs tuna fisheries in th...

After two seafood certification bodies pull their support for the Maine lobster fisheries to support more protection to protect the Northern Right Whale population from extinction. There are only 340 individuals left in the population and government departments are getting desperate to protect the struggling whale population. They don't want to take any chances on whale entanglements. Is this the...

The purpose of COP27, aside from sharing climate change information, is for specific governments to work together to formulate an agreement to help reduce climate change. The COP27 meetings ended with a new agreement that builds on the last meeting's results after negotiations almost collapsed when the EU negotiator almost walked out due to the meeting agreement at the time. So some would consider...

The Northern Right whale population is in trouble and measures need to be taken to ensure the population does not go extinct from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Climate change is driving the whales north into the Northern US and Canada where there were 17 deaths in 2017 due to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Canada took measures to reduce the ship's speed to half of the regulated spe...

Shark species are being fished unsustainably all around the world and protections in sharks need to increase to track where these species are being bought and consumed. Tracking their trade can be difficult, but one tool that is available is CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. A recent vote during the 19th convention added 54 shark species on the...

We talk a lot about the ocean on this podcast and ways that people within the field of marine science and conservation are trying to protect it, but we rarely talk about the things that you can do at home or at your work/office. I work at an office two days a week where people are in and out of the office as we work hybrid work schedules. It's a pretty great office and my company provides us with...

Do you know that corals are living animals? Did you think they might be rocks? It's okay because you are not alone. There are many people who don't know much about coral reefs other than they are beautiful to see on TV and everyone wants to see them. But the thing is that corals are great for the oceans and coastlines. Corals form dense biodiversity and decrease wave energy to protect eroding coas...

COP27 is happening in Egypt right now where world leaders are gathering to discuss how they will reduce the greenhouse gas input into the atmosphere and make promises for their respective countries...that probably won't be met. People are tired of broken promises and would like to discuss and see solutions in action. One solution can be found in the Ocean through seagrass farms that can be cultiva...

In the last episode I spoke to Maria Pinto about her experience in marine science communication where she discussed her platform of choice and the type of content she enjoyed creating. Speaking with Maria inspired me to continue to level up my scicomm game so in this episode I wanted to share with you how I will be starting (re-starting) my efforts for content on YouTube. I hope that those of you...

You have heard my thoughts on science communication based on my experiences which I enjoy telling you all about. But it's about time that you hear about someone else's experience in marine science communication. Maria Pinto is that person that you need to hear from because she is a marine science communicator that has experience working on multiple platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram...

Unicorns of the sea is a term used to describe the majestic and mysterious narwhal, a cetacean that is widely known for its modified tooth that grows out of its skull. I call them mysterious because research is relatively new on the narwhal. We don't know a lot about them. But we do know when they typically begin their fall migration. Dr. Courtney Shuert is here to tell us about their migration an...

Have you ever gone grocery shopping and watched people leave the store with the groceries in a bunch of plastic bags? Or watch people smoking cigarettes while lying on the beach and extinguishing their butts in the sand. It's frustrating to watch people continue to do things that don't protect the oceans. I think the change comes with the principles of psychology and behaviour change. There are ce...

I did a search on the web for any type of content with a topic surrounding communication for ocean conservation and I found videos, papers, and blog posts on how scientists think science communication needs to be conducted using scientific facts. But is that what audiences want to hear? Are they interested in learning about the facts? I propose that we have to find new ways to talk about the ocean...

People love traveling to Mexico to enjoy the tropical weather to escape winter for a week and the high tourist area called Quintana Roo is a very popular destination. But there is a problem with some of the tourist activities such as dolphin excursions. Tourists can watch captive dolphins perform tricks or even swim with them.   Scientists and advocates have been trying to shut the dolphinarium in...

Tonight was a tough night for me as there was an incident with a parent and the coaching staff of which I am a coach. Not only did it get heated, but it almost turned violent on the parent's part. I haven't coached for a terribly long time, but this is something that has never happened to me. It really makes me rethink coaching and gets me thinking about the work I do on this podcast.   I put in t...

The ocean is in trouble and policy can help solve many of those problems, but there are many challenges to overcome to create or change policy. It is difficult for one organization to create policy no matter how big, therefore, coalitions are necessary to change and/or create the policies that will help save the ocean.   I am speaking with Jenna Valente, who is the Director of Advocacy at Healthy...