The Speak Up For Blue Podcast

Is visiting the Antarctic on your bucket list? If so, you may want to take the right boat to get there.  PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge, Arlie McCarthy, wrote a great piece that we should all be talking about regarding invasive species reaching the Antarctic on Conversation.com. The article describes the difficult path invasive species have had to travel to reach the shores of the Antarctic. The Southern Ocean's currents rotate clockwise around the continent deflecting many of the species. If the invasive species do make it to the coastal area, then they would have to survive the freezing cold temperatures and rough waters. These conditions make it difficult for invasive species to settle. Unless they travel by boat. Humans visit the continent for a variety of reasons: tourism, research, fishing, and supply researchers. The ships they take to reach the frozen continent provide invasive species with a direct pathway to the coastal area increasing the chance of species survival and colonization. 

There was a great conversation happening on TikTok (yes, TikTok) on Dr. Virginia Schutte's account regarding wastefulness and our environment.  The video series started with Virginia stitching another creator on her comments about being judged for her family using paper plates. Virginia responded by saying that she chooses not to judge anyone on their lifestyle and rather approaches people with love and support to help others understand what conservation is and that not everyone is able to do conservation.  A number of other comments were generated from the first video and Virginia had great responses to them. I discuss them in this episode and add my own thoughts on conservation and how we and corporations can act to help our blue planet.  Virginia's TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@vgwschutte Meteor podcast: https://meteorscicomm.org/ Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforb

There is a prediction that says the ocean will have warmer water with less oxygen that will be more conducive to smaller mesopelagic fish. A study was recently published in Science and covered on Mongabay news that provides empirical evidence from 130,000 years ago (where, warmer and less oxygenated waters occurred) that shows the prediction could happen.  The same conditions that were present 130,000 years ago are predicted to happen in 2100 that will have severe consequences for global fisheries, especially in the Humboldt Current System off the coast of Peru, where the study was conducted.  The Humboldt Current System is home to one of the most productive waters in the world and accounts for over 15% of the global catch. Warmer, less oxygenated waters could cripple the fisheries as smaller fish will not meet the global food demand.  Fisheries management methods such as fish quotas and marine protected areas should be employed to reduce the impact of overfishing that can accelerate the process of shifting t

Another Indus river dolphin was found dead near the Taunsa Barrage (a damn) in the Indus River (Pakistan) bringing the total to three Indus dolphins in the past month found dead. This past dolphin was found in fishing gear, which is the greatest threat to the population that is already limited by the physical barriers of six barrages within the river.  Non-governmental organizations are trying to pressure the government to enforce policies that regulate the type of fishing gear, material, and mesh size as there has not been any enforcement on the fishing contractors in the area.  Link to article: https://www.dawn.com/news/1667055 Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue 

The people of Cornwall, UK are enjoying the increased number of marine mammal sightings over the past couple of years; however, unfortunately, they are also seeing an increased number of marine mammal strandings.  New sightings might have to bring about new policies that can change the way people in Cornwall fish and use the ocean in the future.  Link to article: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/good-year-whale-dolphin-sightings-6408638 Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue 

Watching Netflix's new movie Don't Look Up made me feel seen as no other movie has before. The movie is a satire on how society reacts to the news of environmental disasters and depicts scientists as whistleblowers that are annoying to society's day-to-day living.  Many non-scientists felt the frustration and anger of Jennifer Lawrence's character that was a Ph.D. candidate who was passionate about what she had discovered and was angry that no one was trying to stop the destruction of the planet. We feel a similar struggle trying to speak up for climate change.  There were people who criticized the movie. They complained that it made society out to be dumb and they didn't like that. They thought the writer, Adam McKay, should stick to making movies similar to his other hits, such as Step Brothers. I think many of the critics are proving the point of the film.  Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitte

A friend recently recommended a podcast to me where the host interviewed Dr. Jane Goodall. Dr. Goodall is a terrific scientist and is known for her studies on great apes where she lived with apes in the wild for many years.  During the podcast, the host, Jay Shetty, discussed how hope could help fight the war on nature. I've heard from family and friends that they lose hope after hearing the doom and gloom of nature, yet Dr. Goodall suggests that they people can get their optimism back through local actions.  I talk about how hope should be part of every nature message if we want to end this war on the environment. Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/jane-goodall-on-winning-the-war-on-nature-how-simple/id1450994021?i=1000538899362 Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

We need to do many things to reduce Climate Change and there are companies that are working around the clock to help bring renewable energy to the forefront in order to get them online.  You may notice more windmills in the Ocean or near highways and the acres of land dedicated to solar panels. The latter is the focus of today's episode, solar panels.  One of the major challenges to adding more solar panels is finding the space to put them. Deserts seem to be a good area, but one company is also looking at floating solar panels to decrease the risk of competing for space, but is adding a number of floating panels good for the habitats underneath the surface of the water? Link to website: https://www.ciel-et-terre.net/ Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

The people are fed up with the broken promises of climate action by governments and will eventually resort to violence if the government doesn't clean up its act with the oil and gas industry. Dr. David Suzuki thinks that blowing up pipelines is inevitable if governments continue to ignore the people's wishes of climate action now.  The speech is getting a lot of heat from conservative-leaning media as they think the words will lead to environmental terrorism.  What are your thoughts? Link to article: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/pipelines-will-be-blown-up-says-david-suzuki-if-leaders-dont-act-on-climate-change Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue  

Deep-sea mining is on the minds of many mining and tech companies as there is a potential to mind the metals that are so badly needed for computer chips that power the very devices you are using to listen to this podcast. However, we are not aware of the ramifications of mining unique areas such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents.  A PhD candidate in deep-sea biology for Queen's University Belfast, Elin Angharad Thomas, conducted an analysis to assess whether the species that are found in hydrothermal vent habitats would be threatened by deep-sea mining. She used the criteria for the IUCN Red List to determine whether the species would be considered "at risk."  The results of her analysis revealed that 2/3 of the species analyzed would be considered endangered by deep-sea mining and 20% of the species would be considered critically endangered. The results of the study make more of a case to avoid deep-sea mining to preserve biodiversity in the deep sea.  Link to article: https://www.theinertia.com/environment/de

NFTs are all the rage in the cryptocurrency world these days. Many artists, digital creators, and even marine organizations are making money using NFTs. However, the way NFTs are processed could have implications for increasing climate change. NFTs use the Eurythreum cryptocurrency, which is controlled by users (called miners) having to solve complex puzzles to gain tokens. Solving the puzzles take up a lot of energy which emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  The entire Eurythreum cryptocurrency uses as much electricity as Libya.  There are ways to reduce the emissions to almost zero by switching the manner in which the currency is controlled.  Link to articles: 1) https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change 2) https://ecotrust.ca/latest/media/blockchain-for-climate-foundation-launches-bitmo-platform-at-cop26/ Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https:/

The Indonesian government took coal ash off the list of hazardous materials even though there is evidence that there are harmful metals such as mercury and arsenic that can leech into the environment. The coal industry lobby worked with the government to get the removal passed.  The government followed up with a policy where the fisheries ministry would by bricks made from coal ash and use them as bricks in the foundation for coral transplantation. I can't make this stuff up! Link to article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/indonesias-new-plan-for-coal-it-pollutes-land-and-air-so-why-not-the-sea-too/ Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

There are many designation categories for protected areas in the ocean; however, they are often lumped into one category: Marine Protected Area. Marine Protected Area (MPA) is a term that has a very specific definition that is different from other protected area categories.  A marine protected area is an area in the ocean where no extractive activities are allowed. Some parks are called MPAs, but they allow extractive activities so they don't count as an MPA.  Why is this important? If we want to protect the ocean, then we will need to have MPAs where no extractive activities are permitted to ensure there is protection. Some parks allow trawling to occur. Other parks allow oil and gas exploration and extraction.  It can be confusing for us all to keep up with the protected area designations, but it's important to know what areas are truly protected.  Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/spea

In May 2021, a container ship called the X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank off the coast of Sri Lanka spilling large amounts of toxic chemicals in the form of fuel and a high concentration of microplastic pellets, called nurdles.  These nurdles can wreak havoc on ocean habitats as they are made from fossil fuel chemicals and break down once in the water. The nurdles are ingested by sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, and fish where they can cause choking and/or leech chemicals into the animals' bodies. The spill of nurdles has also caused 20,000 fishers to stop fishing in Sri Lanka.  The X-Press Pearl spill is a current example that nurdles need to be classified as hazardous materials. Unfortunately, the International Maritime Organization put off addressing the issue until next year opening the way for more spills to occur over the next year.  Over 230,000 tons of nurdles enter the ocean every year.  Link to article: https://grist.org/health/nurdles-the-worst-toxic-waste-youve-probably-never-heard-of/ J

New research published in the Journal of Heredity identified 3 new genetically distinctive populations of tiger sharks: one population is in the Indo-Pacific Ocean basin; one is in the Atlantic Ocean basin, and the third is in the waters surrounding the Hawaiin Islands.  The new populations will no doubt add a call to protect the distinct population keeping in mind that tiger sharks are mass migratory species. Link to Article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/geneticists-have-identified-new-groups-of-tiger-sharks-to-protect/ https://news.mongabay.com/list/ucsc/ Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

Polish researchers observed a young female polar bear chasing a reindeer into the ocean, drowning it, and feeding on it.  The observation in addition to another observation of the same young female feeding on a different reindeer carcass in the same region sparked a wonder as to whether polar bears were altering their diets in the Svalbard region because there was less ice.  Other researchers disagree with that line of thinking as the bears have been seen feeding on reindeer since the 1950s and 60s on occasion. They think that more people are able to document the observations with phone cameras to post on social media making it seems as though polar bears feeding on reindeer occurs more often than we think. Link to Article: https://bit.ly/3pcuQat Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

Did you ever wonder how well your State is managing your beaches? Your state has a coastline along the ocean or the Great Lakes which can be a dynamic place. Coastlines are always changing, usually slow changes, but they are changing. Your state and local governments are in charge of how your beaches are managed and adapted to any changes that might occur but are they managed well? There are so many laws and policies that can contribute to the management of beaches that it can be difficult to find a good indicator of how well they are managed. Luckily, there is a great organization and assesses the management of the beaches in each state annually, Surfrider.  I am joined by Surfrider's Stefani Sekich-Quinn, who manages Surfrider's annual State of the Beach report. Stefanie joins me today to discuss the results of this year's report and reasons we can be hopeful for the future of our beaches...BUT we will have to keep up the pressure.  Link to the report: https://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/surfrider

There have been over 1,000 manatees that have died in 2021. Most of the manatees died of starvation due to the lack of seagrass available for food.  This episode explores why the seagrass disappeared over the past decade and suggests what needs to be done to protect the manatees better.  Link to article: https://www.ecowatch.com/florida-manatees-starvation-feeding-2655776281.html#toggle-gdpr Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

The North Atlantic Right whale's population dipped from 366 to 336 from 2019 to 2020 making it the lowest it has been in 20 years. Whale entanglement is the leading culprit in the North Atlantic Right Whale's mortality off the coast of Maine. Lobster fishing gear tends to be the gear that entangles the whales.  A court recently ruled on whether the government should implement a 4-month ban on offshore lobster fishing in Maine to protect migrating North Atlantic Right whales that travel through the area. The court ruled against the ban on lobster fishing to protect the $1.4 billion fishing industry citing the data presented by the government was not sufficient enough to show a risk to the whale population in the area. The government is appealing the decision.  Conservationists are calling for more collaborations between conservations and fishers to help make new technologies safer and more affordable gear (such as lineless lobster traps. Link to article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/12/mai

This interview with Alifa Haque is a sample of the second episode of season 2 of the Beyond Jaws podcast about the science and conservation actions for wedgefish and guitarfish.  Alifa is a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford and is studying shark catches in Bangladesh, her home country.  In this episode, Alifa tells the story of how she wanted to learn more about the shark fishery in her country after observing how many sharks the fishers catch. Alifa built relationships with the fishers and formed her own citizen science project that had volunteers work with fishers at various sites along the coastline.  Find out how her data is being used to inform future policy.  Follow the podcast here: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/beyond-jaws/ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DnGntm Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3FnQ9MB Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3ozRFEC Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: h