Out of the Blue

One in ten of Australia's sharks and rays are at risk of extinction, and globally shark populations are declining. The biggest reason: people eating them. In this episode, we chat to two shark experts about what we need to do to ensure sharks survive. First, Dr Adam Stow from Macquarie University talks about his research looking at what's really in flake. Then, Dr Jordan Goetze, Adjunt Professor a...

Red Handfish are one of the rarest fish in the world, with only about one hundred individuals left in the wild, living on two tiny reefs in south ast Tasmania. This summer, as a marine heatwave bore down on these critically endangered fish, scientists leapt into action to prevent the species' extinction, taking 25 Red Handfish out of the sea and caring for them on land until waters cooled. Now, th...

Sea creatures might seem to lead very strange lives compared to our own. But maybe we're just as weird. In their new book, US writer and journalist Sabrina Imbler fuses science and memoir to compare the lives of sea creatures to their own. Highlights include how deep sea yeti crabs are like queer night clubs, and jelly-like salps are like queer communities. In this episode, we discovered how queer...

Marine heatwaves this summer have struck the waters around eastern Australia, particularly around Tasmania, the Sea Country of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. In this episode we chat to pakana Sea Country Ranger Fiona Maher and Sea Country IPA Coordinator Zoe Cozens from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre about what the rangers are doing to care for marine life as the oceans warm.  Image: John Sa...

Salt. It's one of the things that makes seawater, well, seawater. In this episode, we chat to Dr Neil Malan from the University of New South Wales about why this mineral is so important in the oceans, shaping the way water moves and where ocean animals and plants live (did you know seabirds get their freshwater from the surface of the ocean after it rains?). Neil's recent research looks at how the...

The Great Southern Reef is just as sunique as the Great Barrier Reef, but far fewer people have heard of it. Stretching from southern New South Wales to Western Australia, this special place is home to amazing species like seadragons and giant cuttlefish. Stefan Andrews from the Great Southern Reef Foundation is raising awareness about the reef and in this episode Stefan joins us to talk about the...

The Great Ocean Rescue campaign, organised by OCEAN, the Otway Coastal Environment Network, has been making its way along the Great Ocean Road since 5 January. From Barwon Heads to Portland, campaigners have been raising awareness about huge seismic blasting proposals for the ocean off the coast. We catch up with Lisa Deppeler from OCEAN to find out how the campaign is going. Find out more at: htt...

The Great Southern Reef, not to be confused with its tropical cousin, stretches from New South Wales to Western Australia, one of the largest reefs systems in the world. A network of rocky reefs and kelp forests, the reef is home to hundreds of species found nowhere else. But this summer the reef is facing the threat of marine heatwaves, with extreme water temperatures already occurring off the co...

Scalloped Hammerhead sharks are found all over the world, but very little is known about them. So when researcher Andrea López from the University of Western Australian discovered large schools of Scalloped Hammerheads in a marine park near Perth, it was an opportunity to learn more about this endangered species. Remarkably, even though the Scalloped Hammerhead is considered at risk of extinction,...

In this episode, Andrew Christie interviews Morgan Ellis and Lucy Coals of Deakin University, who are discussing a range of topics, but mainly marine pests and seagrasses respectively, and they also delve into the exciting world of genetics.  

The Southern Ocean: wild, beautiful, home to amazing wildlife. It also helps fertilise the oceans and regulate the planet's climate. But as the Earth warms and we pump more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, what's happening to this remarkable place? To find out, we speak to Dr Andrew Constable from the University of Tasmania, the lead author of the first Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Sou...

The ocean off Victoria's coast has been selected for Australia's first offshore wind farms, which will help displace fossil fuels and reduce Australia's carbon emissions. But some of those areas are already being mined for oil and gas. And coastal communities have a variety of concerns about offshore energy, from seismic blasting to test for gas to the visual impact of wind farms. So who makes the...

In this episode, Andrew Christie interviews Ashley Dungan and Laura Geissler for an interesting discussion on corals and the microbes that they co-exist with. This is an area that many people don’t really think about, but is something that is crucial for some of the world’s coral reef ecosystems. Ashley and Laura provide some very interesting commentary on their research and what it all means for...

The endangered Maugean Skate is a unique species of fish found only on Tasmania's west coast, a relic of an ancient lineage. With it's population crashing in recent years, the Federal Government has announced a plan to breed the skate in captivity to save it from extinction. But will that be enough? Research shows that one of the biggest threats to the skate is salmon farming, and the plan says no...

In this episode, Andrew Christie interviews Amber Crittenden of the Marine Mammal Foundation. In all the time that Andrew has been conducting interviews in the studios in 3CR, this is definitely one of the best; Amber got her points across like a seasoned media performer as she delved into the fascinating world of delphinid acoustics and the underwater soundscapes. Enjoy this wonderful episode!

There's lots of news coming from the Great Barrier Reef at the moment, with the UN deciding again not to list the reef as a World Heritage site in danger, and new surveys showing that coral recovery after recent mass bleaching events has stalled. Meanwhile extreme global sea temperatures are causing coral bleaching on reefs. To make sense of all these headlines, we speak to University of Technolog...

Pygmy Right Whales are Australia's smallest baleen whale, the group that includes the well-known Humpbacks and Southern Right Whales. But unlike their famous cousins, they've been seen so few times that essentially nothing is known about them. So how do you study a whale that is as mysterious as a unicorn? Adelaide Dedden at the University of New South Wales has studied baleen from stranded right...

In this episode, Andrew Christie interviews Kellie Jackson, a member of NatureWest, Marine Care Point Cooke and now also Parks Victoria. We go into a range of topics that concentrate on the local area, and have a chat about some of the experiences and people that have led Kellie to where she is today.

Ocean temperatures are at record highs in many parts of the world and Antarctic sea ice has reached its lowest level ever for winter, when it should be at its maximum extent. Meanwhile a new study warns that hugely important ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean could collapse in the next couple of years and UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres says we've entered the era of "global boiling".To mak...

Australia is about to embark on an adventure in offshore wind farms, with the first two offshore wind energy zones declared in Bass Strait. While wind energy will play a huge role in reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions and combatting climate change, those giant propellers in the sky also pose their own risks to marine life, particularly birds. Ecologist Keith Reid earlier this year publi...

The ocean between Victoria and Tasmania is the latest battleground in the fight to stop new fossil fuel developments. In this episode we chat to to Lisa Deppeler from the Otway Climate Emergency Action Network (OCEAN) about the campaign to stop seismic blasting in the seas off Victoria. Lisa discusses the evidence that blasting harms marine life and the concerning process for granting permission t...

Southern Right Whales have arrived in bays along Victoria's coast to have their calves. After being decimated by whaling, these whales are slowly recovering. This week, we chat to Kasey Stamation from the Victorian Governent's Arthur Rylah institute. You can help researchers untangle the mysteries of these amazing animals by logging any sightings of whales in Victoria at WhaleFace. We need your he...

We need your help to keep bringing you the most important stories about or coasts and oceans. Can you support Out of the Blue by making a donation? In this episode, James shares some of his highlights from the year:activists in Antarctica fighting industrial krill fishingresearchers trying to save Tasmania's unique Maugean Skate, recently recognised as endangeredthe amazing effort the restore Lady...

If you've been out on Port Phillip Bay and seen a grey dolphin, you might have seen Melbourne's own unique species of dolphin - the Burrunan Dolphin! Only recognised in 2011, Burrunan Dolphins live in Port Phillip Bay, the Gippsland Lakes and waters around Tasmania. To learn more about this wonderful creature, and the efforts to protect them, we speak to Dr Kate Robb from the Marine Mammal Foundat...

You've probably noticed krill oil for sale at your local pharmacy. Much of that krill oil, marketed as sustainable, is harvested from Antarctic waters by industrial ships that are increasingly coming into conflict with wildlife. In this episode, we chat to Alistair Allan, a campaigner at the Bob Brown Foundation who has just spent several months in Antarctic waters investigating the impact of kril...