The Ocean News Podcast

News Editor, Rob Hutchins interviews leading author and PhD student Zoe Storm to explore the correlations between sharks populations and coral reef health. 

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, investigates a historic 'unusual mortality event' in which 8% of Florida's Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphins starved to death.        

Rob Hutchins, raises fears over the safety of marine life in areas along the south coast of the UK after a study found "worrying" levels of chemicals derived from pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and recreational drugs within the waters at two UK harbours.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, deep dives into the world of microplastics. After shockingly high levels have been discovered in the vital organs of both male and female loggerhead sea turtles, with the highest concentrations found in the male reproductive system. It's a discovery scientists say "could spell disaster" for the population.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins investigates the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project and the introduction of the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw, as researchers and locals are celebrating the encouraging signs of local marine life and seabed ecosystems now on the mend.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, dives deep into the hard-fought deal that will see fishing restrictions put in place across six key breeding colonies for African penguins off South Africa; marking a significant first step in reversing the fortunes of a species on the brink of extinction.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins uncovers a groundbreaking study that found sea snails are evolving thicker shells to fend off invasive predators, but are losing their 'on-demand defence mechanism'.

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, dives deep into the newest updates from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council meeting in Jamaica as negotiations continue on controversial deep-sea mining under the new leadership of Secretary General, Leticia Carvalho.   Cover Image: G.Mannaerts / CC BY-SA 4.0  

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, dives into TWO of the top stories this week. From the Trump administration reconsidering critical greenhouse gas findings to a new advance in AI technology that may pave the way to saving the world’s coral reef ecosystems.  

News Editor, Rob Hutchins explores the recent news of a collision between an oil tanker carrying jet fuel on a short-term charter with a cargo ship in the North Sea, triggering deep concern for vulnerable marine life across two nearby marine protected areas.   PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF METRO    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, explores Ocean Census' newest discovery of 866 new marine species, including a guitar shark, a deep-sea mollusc, and the first octocoral found in the Maldives, as part of its wider mission to transform the approach to ocean science.

In a ‘major step forward in the UK’s environmental movement’, the River Ouse - the spine of an extensive network of smaller streams fanning the Sussex county - joins an international cohort of rivers now recognised as ‘living entities’ with ‘intrinsic rights to exist’.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, dives into brand new international research that concludes there were nearly 3.5 times the number of marine heatwave days in the summers of both 2023 and 2024 compared to any other year on record, bringing with them billions of dollars in economic damage.    

News Editor Rob Hutchins, is back and exploring the return of the Galapagos crake. Found along the coasts and mangroves as well as the highlands of the Galapagos Islands, the Galapagos crake (also known as the rail) has spent nearly 200 years undetected on the island of Floreana, leading many to believe it was locally extinct... until now.    

In a bid to restore and safeguard the ecological heart of the North Sea - the Dogger Bank - an international coalition will launch an exciting rewilding programme in 2025.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins, explores accounts from Indonesian and Filipino crew members working aboard a fleet of 12 Chinese tuna fishing vessels who have alleged cases of physical abuse and forced labour among North Korean crew, with some trapped at sea for as long as a decade.    

News Editor, Rob Hutchins deep dives into the world of Whale sharks!    Although they might be the largest fish on the planet, they are also the most elusive with little known about their reproductive strategies, including where they go to give birth. A new study, however, may have just revealed a vital clue.    

Green and loggerhead sea turtles have been responding to the warming ocean and planetary temperatures by advancing their nesting and hatching process by nearly one day a year for the last 30 years, an adaptation that will prove vital to their survival.  

Join Oceanographic Magazine's News lead, Rob Hutchings and Social Media Manager, Ben Hartley, as they plunge into the depths of this week's most significant ocean-related stories. From groundbreaking scientific discoveries to urgent environmental concerns, Hutchings provides in-depth analysis and expert commentary on the issues that matter most to our blue planet.

News Editor, Rob Hutchins uncovers the scale of toxic pollution caused by the oil and gas industry in UK seas.    

Join Oceanographic Magazine's News lead, Rob Hutchings, as he plunges into the depths of this week's most significant ocean-related stories. From groundbreaking scientific discoveries to urgent environmental concerns, Hutchings provides in-depth analysis and expert commentary on the issues that matter most to our blue planet.

The non-profit research group OCEARCH managed to tag the largest ever recorded great white shark in the Atlantic off the Florida-Georgia coast in mid-January. The researchers now hope that the data provided by the tag will help advance our knowledge of the species.

In partnership with the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Program and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Walt Disney World Florida is to move from long-term manatee rehabilitation to short-term critical care in a move that will ease pressures on local facilities.

Following a ten-year project exploring Costa Rica's methane seeps, researchers have compiled a collection of specimens, photographs, and DNA sequences enabling them to identify 488 distinct species - the highest biodiversity count ever recorded in a single seep or vent region.  

Scientists conducting routine studies at Union Glacier and Schanz Glacier as well as the South Pole have now confirmed that microplastics down to the size of 11 micrometres - about the size of a red blood cell - have been found in the snow of Antarctica.