How To Protect The Ocean

Climate Change has really been on my mind these days, specifically the people who have been affected by the Hurricanes in Small Island communities such as Barbuda, Dominica, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The magnitude and extent of the damages incurred by these communities are evidence that we are not prepared for the intensity of storms that seem to be occurring more often.  It's time we hav...

Seagrass monitoring projects are crucial to the overall health of coastal systems as seagrass beds all around the world are habitats of great biodiversity...and biodiversity make habitats more resistant to degradation. Unfortunately, monitoring projects are hard to start and maintain because it's difficult to find people to do the work on a consistent basis and it's difficult to find money to pay...

Shark advocates and scientists strive for the same cause: protect sharks from their rapid global decrease in population. However, advocates and scientists don't always agree on the methods. Some people want all finning and fishing of all sharks to stop completely. Others feel it's more realistic to have some sustainable shark fisheries and want to ban finning altogether. A current proposed bill in...

We continue our introduction to the Octo (Open Communications for The Ocean) team this week as John Davis, Nick Wehner and introducing Sarah Carr join me for Ocean Talk Friday to discuss the articles that were published in the latest Marine Environment And Management (MEAM) edition.  Today we discuss: 1) How social science is implemented in Marine Conservation projects by looking at a number of ex...

Open Communications For The Oceans (Octo) has become a partner of Speak Up For Blue and we will now work together as a team to further share Marine Science and Conservation to help live for a better Ocean. As you know, Speak Up For Blue is designed to raise awareness about Ocean Issues in the public and let people know about all of the wonderful people and projects going on around the world. I hop...

It's not everyday where you realize your dreams, especially in the field of Marine Science and Conservation. However, it has happened to me today as this is the first day that I am working full time on Speak Up For Blue and getting paid for it. That's right, Speak Up For Blue has it's first sponsor at the Partner Level. That sponsor is Octo (Open Communications for The Ocean).  This opportunity al...

Shark finning, the act of removing a shark's fin at sea and discarding their mangled body overboard for them to die, is a terrible act and the reason why many marine conservation organizations are trying to ban finning and fins in many countries around the world, including in the US.  There is a proposed bill that is in Congress right now that is proposing the possession and sale of shark fins in...

I tell a story about my trip with some friends to the Buffalo Bills game last Sunday. It was crazy hot!!! The Bills stadium ran out of bottled water by half time and wouldn't give us regular tap water. It sucked because it was crazy hot!!! So hot!!! And no water equals not a great day until more bottled water showed up.  I want to know why we never see tap water in public anymore?!?!?! Enjoy the P...

Graduate student life is fun when you look back on it after 15 years. You realize that you had so many freedoms and you didn't have to worry about the "real world" yet; however, the real world hits you as a graduate student because you have to pay bills, tuition, and live life with a very low salary. Some people accept that part of life and hope for the best, while others go out and work for extra...

We are featuring another episode of the Marine Conservation Happy Hour where Dr. Scarlett Smash recounts her and her husband's experience of evacuating the state of Florida along with millions of other people. Let's just say water and gas were in limited quantity and it was hot and sticky. I will let Smash tell you the rest. Enjoy the Podcast!!! Let me know what you think of the episode by  joinin...

There are quite a few spectacular things that go on at the International Marine Conservation Congress every year; however, one of my favourites is the Tales From The Sea.  It's an event that goes on in a theatre where Marine Scientists and Conservationists stand up in front of an audience and tell them a story about an experience during their life that involves the Ocean in some sort of way.  Toda...

Today's stories have a couple of things in common: 1) All stories are about invertebrates and, 2) You have to find out at the end of the episode.  I thought I would pick these stories to discuss because I wanted to cover something a little different to show you that there are some great discoveries and some concerns that need to be addressed in Marine Science and Conservation. Enjoy the Podcast!!!...

Dr. Ed Hind-Ozan joins me on this episode of Ocean Talk Friday to discuss how conferences benefit people in the field of Marine Science and Conservation. Conferences are great for networking, collaborating on future projects and sharing information about different projects and strategies for the Ocean's best interest.  Ed is the chair of the International Marine Conservation Congress that will tak...

The Canadian Government has a long relationship with the First Nations groups across Canada; however, the relationship sucks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to reconcile Canada's relationship with First Nations groups in Canada. He's been Prime Minister for almost 2 years, but hasn't done much to help...in fact, people say he's done the opposite. An article in the National P...

Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida over the weekend reeking havoc in different counties across the state as it did across many Caribbean Islands. As people in the path of Irma checked in as safe on social media and shared pictures and videos of what they witnessed, an interesting thing popped up in some of the videos. Two people shared pictures and videos of the ocean water missing along thei...

Nathan Johnson joins us on Ocean Talk Friday after a busy summer. Today we talk about the following articles: 1) Canada designates it's largest conservation area (not an MPA, but similar); 2) Hawaiian National Monument gets an award for doing great work; 3) Can Aquaculture supply the world with seafood in a sustainable way; and, 4) NASA is using satellites to help understand Antarctica ecology Enj...

Raising Ocean Awareness through any means may not be enough to be successful at conserving and protecting the Ocean. I know! I was surprised to hear that as well. We often watch documentaries or participate in campaigns that try to raise awareness of Ocean issues, but they are not as effective (all of the time) in doing what is necessary: Change the behaviours of people to protect the Ocean from h...

Whale sharks are one of the most iconic species in the world. As the largest fish, people are so captivated by their sight that they will travel thousands of miles just to get a glimpse of them in the wild. However, these sharks are also Endangered according to the IUCN Red List and you might be surprised to know that there isn't much known about these amazing fish. Especially, their population si...

Marine Conservation Careers seems to be on your mind as we covered it on a couple of episodes over the past week. Last Friday, we heard from 3 generations of Marine Conservationists on the challenges we faced in our career. It wasn't meant to scare you. It was meant to prepare you for the future (if you want a marine conservation career).  I address some comments that I received on the episode fro...

Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 storm, has left Houston and the surrounding areas and is now heading for Louisiana as a tropical storm; however, the imprint it left on Houston was devastating. A Politico article said Harvey was the 3rd 500-year storm in as many years leaving 40-60 inches of rain, which flooded various parts of the city. Authorities are still dealing with the floods and trying to re...

Two crazy pieces of news to cover today. Last week was a big week in crazy news. A Fish Farm in Washington blames the eclipse on stronger tides and currents and breaking nets, releasing Atlantic Salmon into the Pacific Coast. Our Second piece of crazy news is a politician in Cape Cod is now taking aim at Great White Sharks after a white shark preyed upon a seal near a beach in front on beach goers...

Marine Conservation Careers is a dream that all of us have that work, or are trying to work, in this field. Two episodes ago, I discussed an article on the struggles people were having trying to get a job. Many of the problems that arose were unpaid internships, pay for work experience and lack of funding. I got some feedback from the Facebook Group on the episode, which was good, but said that I...

Blue whales are the largest animals on the planet and Dr. Asha de Vos studies a unique population that occurs in the Northern Indian Ocean. She has pioneered marine mammal research and conservation in her home country of Sri Lanka and is inspiring the next generation of Marine Scientists and Conservationists all over the world.  Now, Asha launched Oceanswell as the next part of her evolution to bu...

Sea otters can eat a variety of prey (up to 50) according to an article that photo-documented a sea otter eating a giant Pacific octopus off the coast near Juneau, Alaska. The sea otter had some pups with her, which begs the question as to why sea otter would take the risk of eating an octopus. I talk about the dangers of eating live octopus in the Ocean and how other animals are dying because of...

I read a great article on the Mongabay website that inspired me to discuss it on today's installment of Ocean Talk Friday. The article was about how hard it is for young people to build a career in Conservation. It dives into many of the issues that I see everyday while I consult with people about building their careers: 1) High student debt with low paying jobs; 2) Only unpaid internships availab...