SUFB 380: Broome Community Seagrass Project with Fiona West
Release Date: 10/11/2017
SUFB 1089: Growing Up As A Black Marine Scientist With Carlee Jackson, Dr. Camille Gaynus, And Alex Troutman...And Their Moms, Part 2
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
In the second installment of my interview with three black marine scientists (and co-organizers of #BlackInMarineScienceWeek) join me and their Moms to discuss how they grew up wanting to be Marine Scientists. This part of the interview focuses on advice the Moms would give other parents of black children who would like to become Marine Scientists. Monica (Carlee's Mom) Leslie (Camille's Mom), and Elyza discuss the importance of doing what they can to encourage their kids to become scientists and finding any and every program that will help them pursue Marine Science. I also ask...
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SUFB 1088: Growing Up As A Black Marine Scientist With Carlee Jackson, Camille Gaynus, Alex Troutman and Their Moms!
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
This week we are celebrating Black In Marine Science Week so that we can show that there are many Black Marine Scientists who need to be recognized and identified. On today's episode of the Speak Up For The Ocean Blue Podcast, I am joined by Carlee Jackson, Dr. Camille Gaynus, and Alex Troutman and their mothers. We discuss what it was like for these marine scientists to grow up to follow a career in Marine Science. Their mothers tell us what their children did to show them that they were serious about being a marine scientist and how they learned what being a marine scientist was...
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SUFB 1087: Fish Stalking Box Crabs For Food...But It's Not What You Think
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
Sometimes you need a little help if you are an Ocean predator that is always seeking food. The Ocean can be a hard place to find breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some animals are able to find their meal on their own. Others will latch themselves on another animal to feed off of them. And in the case of today's episode, some animals turn to stalk another animal in order to drum up some food. A researcher was studying box crabs while SCUBA diving on the Caribbean Sea when he noticed something quite peculiar in more than one instance. Razorfish and flounder were stalking box crabs, but not to...
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SUFB 1086: How To Become A Better Local Activist
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
My recent adventure with trying to get my Provincial Government from taking away powers from Conservation Authorities to protect floodplains and protected areas from developers made me realize that I had the ability to help my local environment by becoming a local advocate. As I feel inspired to become a local activist, I wanted to provide you with some key advice that helped realize my potential and help you help your local environment. The first thing you need to do is stay aware of what is happening to your local environment. You will need to subscribe to some newsletters from...
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SUFB 1085: Are Swordfish Killing Sharks In The Mediterranean?
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
We all know, love, and sometimes fear sharks for their predatory nature; however, we never really feat a swordfish. We tend to be in wonder and ah when with see this fish in the wild. Maybe it is because we only see them when they are being caught by recreational fishermen when they go deep-sea fishing. Swordfish are predators and they are quite effective predators with their unique bill. Swordfish swim actively around their prey, which forms a "bait ball" by grouping in a ball swimming close together in the same direction in a massive ball. The swordfish jet around the bait ball at high...
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SUFB 1084: Update On Building On Floodplain Story And A New Marine Protected Area In The Southern Atlantic Ocean
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
On Monday, I published an episode about how the Ontario Provincial Government was about to pass a bill to take powers away from the province's Conservation Authorities on making decisions as to who can build on floodplains. Currently, A Conservation Authority can deny any developer from building on a natural area due to flooding practices. The new bill will allow developers who do not like the answer to appeal the decision directly to the Minister of Natural Resources, who can overturn the verdict. As I posted clips from Monday's episode on social media, my local councillor in my city...
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SUFB 1083: Navy Has Permission To "Take" Endangered Orca Population
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
The Southern Resident Orca Population is considered endangered in the US and Canada with less than 75 individuals left in the population. The reasons for this low number vary from being caught for marine theme parks such as SeaWorld in the 1960s-70s, the lack of salmon as the Orca population only eat salmon, and water pollution (including plastic pollution) that cause a build-up of toxic chemicals in their bodies. These factors require specific protections for the Orcas. So it is quite surprising when the Navy is approved for drills in the area frequented by the Southern Resident Orca...
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SUFB 1082: When Governments Make Short Sighted Decisions That Affect People And The Environment
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
I saw a recent change to a regulation in my home province of Ontario recently that got me very frustrated because the decision was so short-sighted. The Government of Ontario will be taking away some of the powers of the Conservation Authorities to make decisions on whether developers can build on flood plains. The change will allow developers to appeal decisions made by the Conservation Authorities that they are not allowed to build on a particular piece of land (generally in a flood plain or a protected area). The appeal will go directly to the Minister of Natural Resources, which...
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SUFB 1081: Mi'kmaq Nation Buys 50% Stake In Largest Seafood Company In Atlantic Canada
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
There has been a breakthrough in the Lobster Fisheries conflict between the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Fishers in Nova Scotia, Canada. A conglomerate of Mi’kmaq Nations have purchased the largest seafood corporation in Atlantic Canada for a 50% stake in the company. The Mi’kmaq Nation had a partner in the deal, a company based in British Columbia called Premium Foods. The company owns a number of popular seafood brands in Canada and Internationally. The deal marks the largest investment by Indigenous communities in the seafood industry. It also marks a huge win for Indigenous people who...
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SUFB 1080: How To Affect Environmental Change
Speak Up For The Ocean Blue
Now that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect, respectively, we are going to expect some change in Environmental Regulations in the US. A change in Climate Change policies including rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement will have environmental impacts around the globe. Most of the changes will happen at the Federal level, so how can you help make sure these changes go into effect and how can you change yourself. Voting is a powerful thing. For the 5+ years I have run this podcast, I told people that voting is the biggest step in making sure you can...
info_outlineSeagrass monitoring projects are crucial to the overall health of coastal systems as seagrass beds all around the world are habitats of great biodiversity...and biodiversity make habitats more resistant to degradation. Unfortunately, monitoring projects are hard to start and maintain because it's difficult to find people to do the work on a consistent basis and it's difficult to find money to pay for the program. In comes community programs, or Ocean Citizen Science Projects.
Fiona West is the manager of the Broome Community Seagrass Program in the Kimberley Region of Northwest Australia. Her program has been in place for 11 years (that's a lot of data) that functions based on the work of citizen scientists (locals and tourists) who want to take care of the environment in this part of the world. The program is part of the Seagrass Watch program, an international program that provide citizen science programs with protocols and analysis support for their region.
Fiona describes how the program works and how the Aboriginal People and the Australian government have bee working together to establish a great program monitoring trends in this part of the world.
Listen as Fiona speaks passionately about Broome Bay and the people who protect it.
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This episode was brought to you by Octo (Open Communications for The Oceans). Check out their recent MEAM (Marine Ecosystem And Management) issue helping inform the Marine Science and Conservation field around the world.
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