Nature · Andrew Lewin

How To Protect The Ocean

by Andrew Lewin

Dive into the Depths: Join Andrew Lewin on 'How to Protect the Ocean' – Your Gateway to Exclusive Ocean Insights! Explore the latest, uncharted realms of ocean science and conservation that you won't find anywhere else. Andrew takes you on an inspiring journey to uncover the hidden gems of oceanic discovery and initiatives. Tune in to discover how you can transform your life for a better ocean, one episode at a time. The How To Protect The Ocean is your resource to keep you informed on the latest ocean news; teach you how to speak up for the ocean; and, how you can take action to live for a better ocean. There is so much information on the ocean and the issues that are affecting it that it can be difficult to find optimism in the future of the ocean. Climate change, overfishing, plastic pollution, water pollution, and coastal development have altered the ocean in ways that have negatively changed the way we use it. The repercussions of climate change, including the ominous specter of rising sea levels, the relentless march of warming ocean temperatures, and the ominous shadow of ocean acidification, have not only altered the very fabric of our coastlines but have also conjured fiercer storms and summoned floods with growing frequency. The fossil fuel industry may whisper in your ear that the situation is insurmountable, an inescapable fate. However, this podcast is here to unveil a different narrative, one that empowers you to take action. It illuminates the path to change by casting your vote for leaders committed to implementing climate-rescuing policies and by offering invaluable insights into how each of us can shrink our individual carbon footprint. The grim reality of overfishing casts a long shadow, fueled by governmental shortcomings in the stewardship of both commercial and recreational fisheries. Within the delicate balance of our oceans, every fish population possesses a threshold - a point at which the relentless harvest of fishermen begins to erode their numbers. The management of these aquatic resources is a formidable task, as the elusive currents of the sea often defy easy tracking. Furthermore, the menace of illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing looms large in many nations, adding to the crisis. Yet, a glimmer of hope shines through the depths. A beacon for responsible consumption emerges in the form of seafood programs, guiding conscientious individuals toward choices that safeguard our oceans. By heeding these programs, you not only savor the delights of sustainable seafood but also become an informed guardian of marine ecosystems. The relentless scourge of plastic pollution has unleashed an epidemic of death upon the denizens of our oceans. It's a ruthless killer, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, majestic sharks, grandiose fish, gentle sea turtles, and the graceful sea birds that soar above. The malevolence of this crisis knows no bounds, with microplastics infiltrating even the remotest depths of the ocean and etching their presence along every coastline. To mount a defense against this ecological cataclysm, the clarion call for action echoes on the international and national stages. It beckons governments far and wide to adopt resolute policies, wielding the power to outlaw the menace of single-use plastics and demanding the meticulous detoxification of our supply chains. In this grand battle to safeguard our seas, the fight against plastic pollution knows no borders. The ominous specter of water pollution looms large, a consequence of our thoughtless disposal into the arteries of our planet – our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. This callous act reverberates, sending shockwaves through the intricate ecosystems of our coastal havens, where the likes of coral reefs, resilient mangroves, and swaying seagrasses thrive. But alas, this intrusion is not benign; it bears the capacity to corrode and dismantle these vital sanctuaries, the very lifebloo

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

How to Choose Sustainable Seafood

You want to eat seafood the right way. Then you hit the seafood counter and face a wall of labels, a sign promising "sustainable practices," and an employee who has no id

Oct 12
1 h 06 min

Slow Down for Whales: How Global Shipping Learned to Share the Ocean

Blue whales can't dodge ships. When scientists tracked blue whales alongside cargo ships off Southern California, the whales responded in just over half the encounters, a

Oct 11
10 min

When Whale Food Moves: Climate Change, Crab Traps, and Pop-Up Gear

In 2014, a patch of unusually warm water nicknamed "the blob" settled off the west coast of North America. The cold, food-rich water that normally stretches far offshore

Oct 8
10 min

The Whale Heart That Beats Twice a Minute

Fill your hands with cold water, hold your breath, and press your face in. Your heart slows within seconds. That reflex lives in every whale in the ocean too, and in a bl

Oct 7
9 min

The Biggest Mouthful: How Blue Whales Eat and Why Krill Matters

A blue whale can swallow a volume of water bigger than its own body in a single gulp. That move, called lunge feeding, is one of the most extreme feats in the animal king

Oct 6
10 min

Whales Are Sprinters: What a Blue Whale's Heart Does When It Lunge Feeds

What happens to the heart of the largest animal on Earth when it charges into a swarm of krill? Dr. Ashley Blawas, a postdoctoral scholar in Jeremy Goldbogen's lab at Sta

Oct 5
50 min

The Pollution That Breeds: How the Great Lakes Stopped Invaders

In 1988, someone found a striped mussel the size of a fingernail in Lake St. Clair. Within a few years, zebra mussels coated pipes, boats, and the bottom of the Great Lak

Oct 2
19 min

How Beach Cleanup Data Helped Canada Ban Plastic

You rinse the yogurt tub, check the number on the bottom, and drop it in the blue bin. In Canada, only about 9% of plastic waste actually gets recycled, and the global ra

Oct 1
14 min

What Happens to Fish When Our Pills Reach the Water?

In 2001, government scientists started adding a tiny amount of the synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills to a remote lake in northwestern Ontario, at levels alr

Sep 30
18 min

How Did Humpback Whales End Up in New York Harbour?

This summer, people are boarding whale watching boats and seeing humpbacks feeding in sight of the Manhattan skyline. Fifty years ago, that same water was an open sewer,

Sep 29
16 min

Plastic Is Still the Ocean's #1 Villain, with Dr. Judith Weis

Plastic keeps getting made, it never goes away, and almost none of it gets recycled. Dr. Judith Weis, Professor Emerita at Rutgers University Newark and Andrew's very fir

Sep 28
40 min

You Left a Public Comment. Now What?

All week, Andrew has asked listeners to comment on and show up for California's marine protected area review. Today he answers the question that comes after: once the mee

Sep 25
13 min

Does Your Public Comment Count? Two Ocean Wins Show How

Earlier this year, about 65,000 people submitted comments on a federal deep-sea mining proposal near the Northern Mariana Islands, most of them opposed. The area under co

Sep 25
15 min

The Blob Hit California's Kelp. Protected Kelp Came Back Faster.

In 2014, just two years after California finished its statewide network of marine protected areas, a marine heatwave known as The Blob settled over the Pacific coast and

Sep 23
10 min

300 People, 50 Tribes, One Meeting: How California Built Its Marine Protected Areas

In 1999, California passed a law ordering the state to fix its patchwork of ocean parks. For two years, almost nothing happened, and two attempts to get the process movin

Sep 22
9 min

California Votes on 15 MPA Changes in October. Who Got a Say?

California has a network of 124 marine protected areas, and in October the state's Fish and Game Commission takes up 15 proposals that could change it. The proposals came

Sep 21
59 min

Millimeters That Matter: The Sea Level Rise Threshold Coastal Wetlands Can't Survive

Sea level rise. It's a phrase everyone's supposed to be afraid of, and almost nobody can picture. A couple of millimeters a year sounds too small to matter, until you fin

Sep 17
10 min

What the Coast Is Worth: How a Dollar Number Is Already Funding Its Protection

A boat's wake looks harmless right up until you watch it happen over and over. Every wake a boat throws off chips away at a shoreline that took centuries to build, and it

Sep 17
17 min

Red Tide, Decoded: Why It Isn't Random, and How to Track It

No smell. No warning. Just a beach full of people who start coughing at the same time, grab their towels, and leave. That's red tide, and it feels completely random until

Sep 15
13 min

Nature's Kidneys: How Coastal Wetlands Stop Ocean Pollution

Green water. A smell that won't go away. Sometimes, dead fish washing up on shore. That's what too much nitrogen does to a coastline, and it's easy to hear stories like t

Sep 15
19 min