The Latest Orca News: Two Species Considered, Marineland Tragedy, and Lagoon Rescue
Release Date: 04/08/2024
Silence Is Taking a Side: Why Scientists Belong on the Campaign Trail
How To Protect The Ocean
Every scientist makes advocacy choices every day, whether they admit it or not. The questions you ask, the communities you engage, the issues you spend your time on, and the moments you stay quiet all push the world in one direction. Oceana's Chief Scientist, Dr. Katie Matthews, argues that staying silent on an issue you care about quietly props up the status quo, and in ocean conservation the status quo is usually the problem. Recorded between meetings while Katie was in Panama, this conversation previews her plenary at IMCC8, the 8th International Marine Conservation Congress in Edinburgh....
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What's New and What's Next in Ocean Science Communication
How To Protect The Ocean
Ocean science only protects the ocean when people outside the lab hear it. Dr. David Shiffman, interdisciplinary marine conservation biologist and author of Why Sharks Matter, returns to the show to preview the symposium he organized for the International Marine Conservation Congress: Ocean Science and Conservation Communication: What's New and What's Next. Andrew is one of the presenters. Dave explains why IMCC stands apart from other scientific meetings, with government officials, practitioners, advocates, teachers and artists in the same room as researchers, and why the tools and the policy...
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Our Ocean to Save: Emily Cunningham on Protecting Our Greatest Climate Ally
How To Protect The Ocean
Ask most people what the lungs of the planet are, and they'll say forests. Marine biologist Emily Cunningham would point you to phytoplankton: tiny drifting algae that produce about half the oxygen made on Earth. That gap between what the ocean does for us and what we think it does is why she wrote her first book. Our Ocean to Save: How to Protect Our Greatest Climate Ally is Emily's answer to the question she hears more than any other: "What can I do to help the ocean?" Not a list of don'ts, but a hopeful, practical guide for anyone, anywhere. In this episode, Emily tells Andrew how a manatee...
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Small Grants, Big Impact: How Sea-Changers Funds Community Ocean Action
How To Protect The Ocean
Have you ever had an idea for your community, like a beach cleanup, a water fountain, or a patch of shoreline that needs some love, and thought, "If I just had a little money, I could make this happen"? That kind of funding is hard to find. In the UK, there's a charity built for exactly that. Sea-Changers was founded about 15 years ago by Helen Webb and Rachel Lopata, two divers with no background in marine science who watched the places they loved underwater start to decline. Instead of starting one project, they started a way to fund hundreds. They bring in money from businesses and...
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From Small Towns to a Global Treaty
How To Protect The Ocean
"We'll never see that in our lifetime." You've probably heard it about the ocean. Andrew has heard it plenty, and admits he's said it too. For years it was the standard answer about protecting the high seas, the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any country's borders. Then the High Seas Treaty was agreed, entered into force in January 2026, and passed 100 countries in September, Canada included. In this week's wrap-up, Andrew uses that win to show why a global plastics treaty can happen too, and how it gets built from the ground up. He walks through the ladder: a town like Tofino...
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The Straw Backlash: Why Guilt Doesn't Work
How To Protect The Ocean
"You can't care about plastic. Your phone is made of plastic." If you've ever heard that, you know what it's for. It's designed to make you feel like a hypocrite, so you give up. In this episode, Andrew goes back to one of the most famous moments in plastic pollution: the 2015 video of researchers in Costa Rica pulling a plastic straw from an olive ridley sea turtle's nose. A few months later, the same researcher pulled a plastic fork from another turtle. The straw video helped spark a global push against single-use plastics, and then the straw itself became a punchline. Andrew explains why...
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The Beach That Doesn't Need Cleaning Anymore
How To Protect The Ocean
Picture a beach cleanup. Two hours of hauling bottles, wrappers and foam off the sand. Now picture the same beach ten years later, where you walk the whole length and come home empty-handed. Not because nobody cleaned it, but because there's nothing left to clean. That's a real story, and it happened in Tofino, a surf town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In 2016 its beaches were covered in plastic, and the local Surfrider chapter realized they could clean every weekend for the rest of their lives and it would never stop. So they changed tactics. They went to the businesses handing out...
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Too Enthusiastic? How to Find Your Place in Ocean Action
How To Protect The Ocean
Do you ever feel disconnected from ocean action? You sign the petition, you donate, you share the post, and you still don't feel like you're doing the work. Andrew knows the feeling. Fresh out of his undergrad, he emailed organization after organization offering to help for free, and mostly heard nothing back. In this episode he explains why that happens (it usually comes down to trust and how organizations take on volunteers), and how to get past it. He also retells the story of Lilly Woodbury from yesterday's episode: an environmental studies grad who kept hitting the same wall until she...
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Come for the Impact, Stay for the People: Inside Surfrider Canada
How To Protect The Ocean
Do you ever feel like ocean action is happening somewhere else? You sign the petition, maybe donate, but you're not really part of the work. Lilly Woodbury knows that feeling, and she found her way in by walking into a Surfrider meeting in Tofino in 2016. Lilly is the campaigns and storytelling director at Surfrider Foundation Canada. In this episode she tells Andrew how a small volunteer chapter helped Tofino and Ucluelet ban plastic straws, bags, cutlery and foam containers, and how Tofino became the first municipality in Canada to ban single-use plastic water bottles. Ten years in, she says...
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One Promise: How a Postcard Changed Behaviour for a Year
How To Protect The Ocean
Picture a kid at an aquarium in Durban, standing in front of the penguins with a pen and a postcard. She writes one sentence, a promise to change one habit for the ocean, and drops it into a little post box. More than a year later, researchers emailed visitors like her to ask if they'd kept their promise. About half could point to a real change they'd made. This week's episodes covered a lot: marine protected areas nobody can name, a reef that rebuilt itself, and why "fishing is bad" pushes people away. If all of that left you feeling heavy, this episode is for you. Andrew talks about...
info_outlineToday's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast dives deep into the world of orcas. From the consideration of two species of orca to the tragic death of an orca at Marineland in France, and a delicate rescue operation for a mother orca off the coast of Vancouver Island, host Andrew Lewin covers it all.
Tune in to stay updated on the latest ocean news and learn how you can make a difference for our marine friends.
Link to one of the articles: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/06/stranded-orca-calf-rescue-canada/
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Efforts are being made to reunite the stranded calf with its extended family of transient orcas to ensure its survival. The calf, left orphaned after its mother tragically drowned in a scenic lagoon off the coast of Vancouver Island, is in a precarious situation. The calf is unable to survive on its own in the lagoon, as it requires marine mammal meat such as seals or sea lions for sustenance, rather than the birds it has been seen hunting.
A team of marine mammal experts, drone technicians, veterinarians, environmental consultants, and indigenous people are working together to devise a plan to reunite the calf with its extended family. The hope is that the calf's grandmother, aunts, and other members of the transient orca family will come to the lagoon to retrieve the calf. However, the calf is currently unable to navigate the narrow passage out of the lagoon on its own.
Various methods have been considered to facilitate the calf's reunion with its family. Initially, attempts were made to entice the calf out of the lagoon by playing sounds that mimic the calls of its family members. However, this method was unsuccessful. Other options, such as using a helicopter to lift the calf out of the water or craning it out and transporting it to the other side of the lagoon, are being considered. These methods pose risks to both the calf and the crew involved, as being out of water for an extended period can be stressful and dangerous for the orca.
The indigenous people in the area have a deep cultural connection to the orcas, viewing them as symbolic of their ancestors. The orca's role in their stories is significant, further emphasizing the importance of saving the stranded calf. The collaborative efforts of experts, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, veterinarians, and indigenous communities, highlight the urgency and complexity of the situation.
The clock is ticking for the calf, and a decision must be made soon to ensure its survival. The tragic loss of its mother, who was pregnant at the time of her death, adds to the urgency of reuniting the calf with its family. The ultimate goal is to ensure the well-being and survival of the orphaned calf by reuniting it with its extended family of transient orcas.