Ocean Science Radio

The ocean is a vast and powerful carbon sink, absorbing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere. That carbon is pulled into the water column and is also buried under the layers of dirt and soil on the ocean floor. But this vital role could be jeopardized by a common fishing practice: bottom trawling. Today we will be talking to Dr. Tricia Atwood, an associate professor of...

People with disabilities are often marginalized, face isolation, lack representation and even ablism, no matter the industry or space. We speak to an old friend of the show about how this shows up in STEM and academia, and a project to collect stories from those impacted by this phenomenon in the form of a book of essays. So come join us where we talk about the book Uncharted, and learn about scie...

With the passing of Ocean Explorer and all around nice guy Don Walsh, we wanted to revisit our episode where we interviewed him about the anniversary of the Triseste dive.

Dr. Farabaugh is out sick so this episode is solo Andrew. We speak with Mattie Rodrique - the Science program Director for OceanX- about their work in ocean exploration, discovery, and storytelling while ALSO training the next generation of ocean explorers.

Have you ever wanted to explore the bottom of the ocean? Discover new crazy and beautiful species? Have you ever wanted to explore the remains of a sunken ship, lost to time? Well good news! Today, we're going to be talking with members of the Ocean Exploration Trust a group of explorers and expedition leaders about the work they do, their discoveries and the technology they use. We speak with ROV...

The Port of San Diego has been making incredible strides with its Maritime Clean Air Strategy which is rather comprehensive ranging from cool tech to green practices to amazing economic incentives. The Ocean Science Radio team chatted with Rafael Castellanos - Chairman of the Port of San Diego, Jason Giffen - Vice President for the Planning and Environment Division, and Sylvia. Program Director of...

Some new shark shows just dropped and you KNOW you want to check them out. From Discovery's Shark Week to Nat Geo's pieces there will be plenty of amazing shark content! From Sharkcano: Hawaii to Sharks vs Dolphins: Bahama Battle Grounds, these shows are set to thrill, chill and… hopefully educate about sharks. In this episode, we have Dr. Valeria Paz - dolphin scientist and star of Sharks vs Dolp...

You may have heard about it in the news, you may have seen the memes on social media but no mater what, it appears that there is a group of orcas that have gone rogue. These cetaceans around the Iberian peninsula seem to be ORCA-strating attacks against yachts in the area. To find out more, we brought on Cetacean scientist Chris Parsons to give us the scoop So join us now where we learn more about...

We get to chat with Brooke Fitzwater, a PhD Student in the Earley Lab of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa who has made a big splash with her unique approach to science communication and learn about how she researches the mating habits of a cool species of sex-changing mangrove fish.

We are diving into deep ocean heatwaves. These extreme warming events in the ocean's depths have been linked to changes in ocean currents, weather patterns, and marine life, and we are learning more and more about the what and possibly why of these phenomenon. In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers used a combination of observations and computer models to generate the first bro...

Something strange is growing in the middle of the Atlantic, it covers an insane amount of the surface, it smells of rotten eggs and it might be COMING FOR OUR BEACHES. While the truth of the matter isn’t as scary as social media and the news makes it seem, scientists still have a lot of questions about the annual sargassum mass. We sit down with Brian Barnes a research assistant professor at the U...

It is February and it is time once again for our annual special on reproduction called Ocean Lovin. In this episode we talk about Snow Crab reproduction. You may have seen Snow Crabs popping up in the news recently. This is because back in October, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game cancelled the snow crab season because the population, which normally numbered in the billions, fell by an estim...

Marine Protected Areas are areas of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. These areas range from no-take, no-impact, no-access, and multiple use - basically determining how much human impact is supposed to take place in these areas. On today’s episode, we speak with representatives of the NGO WildAid and some of the partners they are working with to make sure that ocean...

In this episode, we speak with science writer Shannon Stirone and Berkeley writing professor Ryan Sloan about their experiences being sent to the poles to try and capture the wonder of these locations to share with others.

With better and more affordable remote-operated vehicle and video technology, more data and footage is being collected every day. But that leads to another problem, how do you analyze petabytes worth of data? Join us on this episode of Ocean Science Radio, where we meet one of the minds behind FathomNet, and some of the teams that are using this fantastic big data tool for the ocean. We speak with...

The team speaks with Dr. Valero and Emma Lavaut, a graduate student at Sorbonne, who conducted an experiment to try and figure out the relationship between Gracilaria gracilis and the tiny crustaceans who feed on them. Come learn how isopods and red algae relate in this episode on ocean animal mediated fertilization.

Throughout the ocean, there are currents that act like giant, underwater highways. These currents transport nutrients, heat, carbon, and even animals and plankton across vast ocean spans. On this episode, we speak to a triumvirate of experts from McGill University, Princeton University, and the University of Washington in Seattle about the California Current Marine Ecosystem, or CCME and what effe...

The crew speaks with Octopus researcher Dr. Eduardo Sampaio. Eduardo got his PhD studying octopus behavior, cognition, and social contexts and is a Nat Geo Explorer. Eduardo and his team studied octopuses in interspecies hunting parties that included eels and fish. The party is hunting when all of the sudden, one of the fishes gets smacked by the octopus. Eduardo walks us through what we currently...

In this episode the team is covering the latest exciting development out of the AUV/ROV market, Ocean Aero’s Triton. We interview Kevin Decker, the CEO of Ocean Aero and Andy Ziegwied, the Vice President of ocean data for Ocean Aero.

The month of June is National Ocean month in the United States and June 8th was World Oceans Day. Organizations across the globe use World Oceans Day and the month of June to make announcements on initiatives and commitments that relate to our oceans. This includes governments, nonprofits, and even large for-profit ventures. We spoke with the director of Ocean Sustainability at Salesforce, Dr. Whi...

The team speaks with Dr Sarah McAnulty, a squid biologist, and the executive director of Skype a Scientist about going viral, cephalopods,  and how our world seems to expect free labor from the science communication community. 

We explore the ocean economy with the help of  Henrik Österblom, science director at Stockholm University and also a professor of environmental sciences. and John Virdin, director of the ocean policy research program at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for environmental policy solutions. Henrik, John, and their team published a paper revealing the dominance of the ocean economy by 100 companie...

March Mammal Madness, the annual tournament of imaginary combat pitting species against species is back, in its 9th year. Organizers cite scientific literature to substantiate likely outcomes when two species fight in glorious battle in environments both suited for their evolutionary traits, and completely random ones. The Ocean Science Radio team interviews founder Professor Katherine Hinde, of  ...

It is February which means it is time for another episode of OCEAN LOVIN'. This time we speak with Michael Howard, Senior Aquarist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium about the reproductive strategies of deep-water hydrozoan jellies, and other related species, where some have the hydroid (jellybaby) stage of the life cycle on other living animals! We also talk about how aquariums and scientists collect s...

Every year the ocean absorbs ludicrous amounts of energy, even more as a result of climate change and global warming. The team sits down with distinguished scholar Keven Trenbert of the National Center of Atmospheric Research about the recent paper he co-authored called "Another Record: Ocean Warming Continues through 2021 despite La Niña Conditions" and learn about why that is important.