It is February and we once again have our seasonal episode of Ocean Lovin - covering cool and strange ways ocean creatures make little ocean creatures. We speak with  Dr. Christine Dungeon, a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast about sharks and a peculiar story of immaculate shark-ception. As with every year, we want to remind our listeners that Ocean Lovin episodes cover adult themes not meant for children without supervision, please listen to the episode before sharing it with youngsters.  Guest co-host:  Dr Skylar Bayer, a marine ecologist with expertise in shellfish population dynamics, invertebrate life history, fertilization ecology, and science communication.

Ocean Lovin - Immaculate Shark-ception

The ocean is a vast and powerful carbon sink, absorbing about a quarter of the carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere. That carbon is pulled into the water column and is also buried under the layers of dirt and soil on the ocean floor. 

But this vital role could be jeopardized by a common fishing practice: bottom trawling. Today we will be talking to Dr. Tricia Atwood, an associate professor of watershed sciences at Utah State University who is also a researcher with the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas Program, whose team published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science looking at the CO2 impacts from bottom-trawling.

Join us now as we take a deep dive into this silt-shifting practice on a brand new episode of Ocean Science Radio.

Bottom trawling and the Great Carbon Sink

People with disabilities are often marginalized, face isolation, lack representation and even ablism, no matter the industry or space. We speak to an old friend of the show about how this shows up in STEM and academia, and a project to collect stories from those impacted by this phenomenon in the form of a book of essays. So come join us where we talk about the book Uncharted, and learn about scientists navigating their health journey. 

Guests include: 
- Dr. Skylar Bayer from the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Regional Office
- Dr. Gabi Serrato Marks - a co-founder at Stelli Communications, a PR firm and an MIT-trained scientist with a passion for expanding access to science
- Katie Harrison, an information specialist with USTA and a paleo-oceanographer
- Maureen Hayden, a PhD candidate studying ecotoxicology
- Dr. Stephanie Schroeder, the education and Engagement Director at the Center for Learning Health System Sciences at the University of Minnesota and a former marine biology behavior ecologist.

Uncharted - Scientists with Disabilities Navigating Their Experiences

With the passing of Ocean Explorer and all around nice guy Don Walsh, we wanted to revisit our episode where we interviewed him about the anniversary of the Triseste dive.

Don Walsh Revisisted

Dr. Farabaugh is out sick so this episode is solo Andrew. We speak with Mattie Rodrique - the Science program Director for OceanX- about their work in ocean exploration, discovery, and storytelling while ALSO training the next generation of ocean explorers.

OceanX - Amphoras, Exploration, and Bioluminescence

Have you ever wanted to explore the bottom of the ocean? Discover new crazy and beautiful species? Have you ever wanted to explore the remains of a sunken ship, lost to time? Well good news! Today, we're going to be talking with members of the Ocean Exploration Trust a group of explorers and expedition leaders about the work they do, their discoveries and the technology they use. 

We speak with ROV Operations Manager Josh Chernov, Director of Education and Outreach Megan Cook, and Renato Kane a navigator and mapper for OET.

Ocean Exploration Trust - Live Streamed Deep Sea Exploration with the EV Nautilus

The Port of San Diego has been making incredible strides with its Maritime Clean Air Strategy which is rather comprehensive ranging from cool tech to green practices to amazing economic incentives.  

The Ocean Science Radio team chatted with Rafael Castellanos - Chairman of the Port of San Diego, Jason Giffen - Vice President for the Planning and Environment Division, and Sylvia. Program Director of the Aquaculture and Blue Technology Department to talk about the advances and initiatives at the Port of San Diego.

A Port of Firsts - The Port of San Diego's Maritime Clean Air Strategy

Some new shark shows just dropped and you KNOW you want to check them out. From Discovery's Shark Week to  Nat Geo's pieces there will be plenty of amazing shark content! From Sharkcano: Hawaii to Sharks vs Dolphins: Bahama Battle Grounds, these shows are set to thrill, chill and… hopefully educate about sharks. 

In this episode, we have Dr. Valeria Paz - dolphin scientist and star of Sharks vs Dolphins: Bahama Battle Grounds for a discussion about sharks, dolphins, and being on these types of documentaries.

Dolphins vs Sharks

You may have heard about it in the news, you may have seen the memes on social media but no mater what, it appears that there is a group of orcas that have gone rogue. 

These cetaceans around the Iberian peninsula seem to be ORCA-strating attacks against yachts in the area. To find out more, we brought on Cetacean scientist Chris Parsons to give us the scoop 

So join us now where we learn more about orcas, the teaching techniques of these whale-killers, and how serious a threat the cetacean uprising really is, on this episode of, Ocean Science Radio.

The Iberian Orca Uprising

We get to chat with Brooke Fitzwater, a PhD Student in the Earley Lab of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa who has made a big splash with her unique approach to science communication and learn about how she researches the mating habits of a cool species of sex-changing mangrove fish.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly in Science Communication

We are diving into deep ocean heatwaves. These extreme warming events in the ocean's depths have been linked to changes in ocean currents, weather patterns, and marine life, and we are learning more and more about the what and possibly why of these phenomenon. 

In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers used a combination of observations and computer models to generate the first broad assessment of bottom marine heat waves in the continental shelf waters around North America. 

Today, we have with us Climate scientist Dillon Amaya of NOAA, the lead author on that very paper, so join us now on this episode of Ocean Science Radio.

Bottom-Water Ocean Heat Waves

Something strange is growing in the middle of the Atlantic, it covers an insane amount of the surface, it smells of rotten eggs and it might be COMING FOR OUR BEACHES. While the truth of the matter isn’t as scary as social media and the news makes it seem, scientists still have a lot of questions about the annual sargassum mass. We sit down with Brian Barnes a research assistant professor at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science to get some answers.

Sargassum Madness - The Case of the Appearance of a Giant Blob in the Atlantic

It is February and it is time once again for our annual special on reproduction called Ocean Lovin. In this episode we talk about Snow Crab reproduction. You may have seen Snow Crabs popping up in the news recently.This is because back in October, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game cancelled the snow crab season because the population, which normally numbered in the billions, fell by an estimated 90%.The first time the fishery was shut down in recorded history. 

We speak with Chris Long, fisheries scientist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Kodiak Laboratory about this species, why it is in decline, and how they get it on.

Ocean Lovin - We got (snow) crabs

Marine Protected Areas are areas of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. These areas range from no-take, no-impact, no-access, and multiple use - basically determining how much human impact is supposed to take place in these areas. 

 On today’s episode, we speak with representatives of the NGO WildAid and some of the partners they are working with to make sure that ocean parks are enforceable, realistic, and work for the local population. 

The team interviews: 
- Meaghan Brosnan - Marine Program Director for Wildaid
-Juma Mohamed - Head of Program for Mwambao Coastal Community Network in Tanzania
-Joyce Beouch - Acting Director of the Bureau of Environment Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment (MAFE)

WildAid's Mission to Create Locally Driven and Directed Enforced MPAs Around the World

In this episode, we speak with science writer Shannon Stirone and Berkeley writing professor Ryan Sloan about their experiences being sent to the poles to try and capture the wonder of these locations to share with others.

Polar Fever and the Effort to Capture the Wonder and Importance of the Poles

With better and more affordable remote-operated vehicle and video technology, more data and footage is being collected every day. But that leads to another problem, how do you analyze petabytes worth of data? 

Join us on this episode of Ocean Science Radio, where we meet one of the minds behind FathomNet, and some of the teams that are using this fantastic big data tool for the ocean. 

We speak with: 
Dr. Kakani Katija - FathomNet co-founder and lead of the Bioinspiration Lab for MBARI
Megan Cromwell - Research Program Manager for NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
Corinne Bassin - Data Solutions Architect with Schmidt Ocean Institute

FathomNet - AI helping us analyze and understand the ocean

The team speaks with Dr. Valero and Emma Lavaut, a graduate student at Sorbonne, who conducted an experiment to try and figure out the relationship between Gracilaria gracilis and the tiny crustaceans who feed on them. Come learn how isopods and red algae relate in this episode on ocean animal mediated fertilization.

Ocean Pollination and the Incredible Red Algae Munching Isopod

Throughout the ocean, there are currents that act like giant, underwater highways. These currents transport nutrients, heat, carbon, and even animals and plankton across vast ocean spans. On this episode, we speak to a triumvirate of experts from  McGill University, Princeton University, and the University of Washington in Seattle about the California Current Marine Ecosystem, or CCME and what effect humans are having on the species that rely on it to survive.

Guests include: 
-Dr. Jennifer Sunday, Assistant Professor at McGill University
-Dr. Evan Howard, Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University
-Dr. Terrie Klinger, Professor and Co-Director of the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, University of Washington

The California Current Marine Ecosystem and our changing world

The crew speaks with Octopus researcher Dr. Eduardo Sampaio. Eduardo got his PhD studying octopus behavior, cognition, and social contexts and is a Nat Geo Explorer. Eduardo and his team studied octopuses in interspecies hunting parties that included eels and fish. The party is hunting when all of the sudden, one of the fishes gets smacked by the octopus. Eduardo walks us through what we currently think about the Cephalopunch. You can follow Eduardo on Twitter at OctoEduardo

Cephalopunch - The Case of the Interspecies Hunting Party Smack

In this episode the team is covering the latest exciting development out of the AUV/ROV market, Ocean Aero’s Triton. We interview Kevin Decker, the CEO of Ocean Aero and  Andy Ziegwied, the Vice President of ocean data for Ocean Aero.

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