The Latest Orca News: Two Species Considered, Marineland Tragedy, and Lagoon Rescue
Release Date: 04/08/2024
The Gerard Barron Pattern: Why a CEO Who Watched One Deep-Sea Mining Company Collapse Is Trying Again
How To Protect The Ocean
Why would someone who watched one deep-sea mining company collapse go back and try it again? That's the question at the center of this episode, and it's not hypothetical. It happened, with the same industry, some of the same licenses, and the same person at the center of it: Gerard Barron, now CEO of The Metals Company (TMC), one of the most prominent and best-funded companies pushing to start commercial deep-sea mining today. This isn't framed as an accusation against Barron specifically. It's a documented sequence of decisions, and by the end, you can decide for yourself what the motive...
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Bottom Trawling on Seamounts: The Damage Nobody Sees
How To Protect The Ocean
Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise at least 1,000 meters from the seafloor without breaking the surface, and they punch far above their weight biologically. Topographic upwelling pulls cold, nutrient-rich water up their slopes, fueling plankton blooms that draw fish, sharks, seabirds, and marine mammals, while their rocky surfaces give slow-growing corals and sponges a rare hard place to root in an otherwise soft-sediment deep sea. Roughly one in five seamount species are endemic, found nowhere else on Earth, which is why scientists call them oases in the deep sea. That's exactly...
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From Shoveling Coral Overboard to Negotiating at the UN
How To Protect The Ocean
Before he ever sat across a table from UN delegates, Matthew Gianni spent 10 years working as a commercial fisherman up and down both US coasts. Gillnetting for Spanish and king mackerel in Florida. Bottom trawling off central California, New England, and Florida for sole, redfish, hake, sablefish, shrimp, and other groundfish. Hook-and-lining for salmon and albacore tuna in Oregon and California. Running pots for Dungeness crab and dredging for deep sea scallops on Georges Bank. In today's episode, I trace how that decade on deck, watching coral and glass sponges get shoveled back overboard...
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Blue Collar White Coat: Meet the People Behind Ocean Science
How To Protect The Ocean
Science communication has a blind spot: it keeps putting the same faces in front of the microphone. In this episode, Andrew talks with Amy Weldon, host and executive producer of the podcast Blue Collar White Coat, about why she built an entire show around the people science coverage usually skips. Amy spent 15 years in science communications, starting at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and now uses that background to track down the electricians, dive supervisors, ship repair technicians, and life-support operators who keep ocean and space research running. The conversation covers why Amy...
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Why YouTube Might Be the Future of Ocean Science Communication
How To Protect The Ocean
YouTube has quietly become one of the best platforms for ocean science communication, and in this episode Andrew breaks down exactly why. Fresh off yesterday's 2,000-episode milestone and the new Pisces Oceans licensing agreement, Andrew explains why he's diving back into YouTube after stepping away last spring, including the launch of a brand new daily show, Ocean Decoded Live. Andrew walks through his own history with video, from the early days of Speak Up for Blue TV through burnout, a rebrand, and now a fresh start under Ocean Decoded. He breaks down why YouTube's search-driven discovery...
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Episode 2000: TV Offers, Job Offers, and a Major Announcement
How To Protect The Ocean
Today marks episode 2000 of How to Protect the Ocean, and Andrew is taking a break from the usual format to look back at how this show came to be. From an accidental start in 2010 to a name change driven by search engine optimization, to over 3 million downloads across 11 years, this episode traces the full arc of the podcast's history. Andrew also opens up about how podcasting reshaped his career. What started as a side project outside of work hours led to TV documentary appearances, podcast hosting offers including a multi-year run on the Toronto Zoo podcast, and eventually the job offer...
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The Power of Podcasting for Ocean Science Communication
How To Protect The Ocean
Podcasting has been part of Andrew Lewin's life for 11 years, and in this episode he explains why he thinks more people working in ocean science and conservation should be doing it too. He walks through what makes long-form audio and video different from the short clips discussed in yesterday's episode: the ability to sit with complex topics, tell a full story, and reach an audience that's multitasking, whether they're walking the dog, working out, or gardening while listening. Andrew gets specific about what podcasting actually requires. He covers how titles and the first several seconds of...
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Short-Form Content for Ocean Awareness: What Actually Works
How To Protect The Ocean
This week on the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, Andrew kicks off a science communication series exploring how ocean advocates can spread awareness across every major content format. Today's episode digs into short-form video: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and what it actually takes to make original content work when you're used to talking for an hour, not ninety seconds. Andrew is candid about his own struggle with the format, since most of his short-form output today is repurposed podcast clips rather than content built for the platform from the ground up. The conversation...
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The Electric Boat Revolution Is Here
How To Protect The Ocean
Electric boating is having its Tesla moment, and few people understand that shift better than Alexandre Mongeon, CEO and co-founder of Vision Marine Technologies. Andrew sits down with Alexandre to trace his path from importing speed boats in Montreal to building the electric outboard systems now powering boats across North America. Along the way, Alexandre shares how a chance meeting with Olympic sailor and boat designer Ian Bruce set him on the road to electric propulsion, and how a rental-to-sale showroom model in Newport Beach, California, turned a small hobby business into a NASDAQ-listed...
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3 For-Profit Companies Cleaning the Ocean and Paying Living Wages
How To Protect The Ocean
Not every ocean conservation win comes from a nonprofit or a government program. In this episode, Andrew breaks down three for-profit companies that are cleaning up the ocean, funding wildlife research, and paying living wages to the people doing the work. These businesses show that conservation and profit are not opposing goals. They can be the same goal. Andrew covers 4Ocean, whose full-time captains and cleanup crews earn living wages with health insurance and bonuses across Florida, Bali, Haiti, and Guatemala. He covers Ocean Sole, the Kenyan social enterprise that pays local collectors...
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.