Episodes
Aug. 16, 2025
Managing Fishing Vessels: Uncovering the Hidden Ownership of Industrial Fleets
Managing fishing vessels goes far beyond tracking where a boat is registered. In this episode, we dive into Oceana’s Beyond the Flag report to explore how large-scale fishing vessels are often flagged in one country but owned...
Aug. 14, 2025
Plastic pollution in the ocean: How the Global Treaty Could Change Everything
Plastic pollution in the ocean is no longer just an environmental issue—it’s a public health crisis and an economic threat. In this episode, I break down the latest updates from the UN negotiations on a global plastics treaty...
Aug. 12, 2025
How 5 billion sea stars died and what we can do to save them
How 5 billion sea stars died is a story that shook marine ecosystems along North America’s Pacific coast. This episode dives into the groundbreaking discovery of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida , the pathogen responsible for...
Aug. 9, 2025
Scientist Identifies New Manta Ray Species: Dr. Andrea Marshall’s Discovery of the Atlantic Manta
Scientist Identifies New Manta Ray Species —the Atlantic Manta Ray, Mobula yarae —in a groundbreaking announcement from Dr. Andrea Marshall and her team at the Marine Megafauna Foundation. In this episode, Andrew Lewin shares...
Aug. 6, 2025
Climate Crisis and Capitalism: David Suzuki on Why We Must Rethink Everything
Climate Crisis and Capitalism are at the heart of David Suzuki’s powerful message in this episode. In a candid and impassioned reflection, Suzuki warns that if we continue to prioritize politics and the economy over protectin...
Aug. 3, 2025
Map the Deep Sea: How Ocean Mapping Drives Conservation, Equity, and Innovation
Map the Deep Sea to protect what we don’t yet understand. In this episode, Andrew Lewin speaks with Tim Kearns from Map the Gaps , a global initiative working to close the knowledge gap beneath the waves. With over 75% of the...
July 31, 2025
Ocean Books and Solarpunk Stories: Todd Medema’s Climate Heist Novel to Inspire Action
Ocean Books can do more than entertain—they can inspire action, hope, and a fresh way of thinking about climate change. In this episode, Todd Medema introduces his new novel, How to Surf a Hurricane , a solarpunk heist that i...
July 29, 2025
Coffee and the Environment: The Hidden Cost of Your Daily Brew
Coffee and the environment are deeply intertwined, yet few consumers realize just how damaging the coffee industry can be. In this episode, Etelle Higonnet, a Yale-trained human rights lawyer and founder of Coffee Watch, join...
July 27, 2025
Plastic Pollution in the Ocean: Why It’s Time to Ban Styrofoam for Good
Plastic foam pollution continues to be a widespread and dangerous threat to ocean health. In this episode of How to Protect the Ocean , Oceana’s Christy Leavitt breaks down their 2025 report exposing the true environmental co...
July 24, 2025
Shark Week 2025 Why Shark Week’s “Dancing With Sharks” Episode Got It So Wrong
Shark Week 2025 opened with a spectacle that left many conservationists and shark advocates frustrated. The premiere episode, Dancing With Sharks , featured handlers hugging, hand-feeding, and even riding sharks—behaviors tha...
July 22, 2025
How to Protect Sharks: What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
How to Protect Sharks isn’t just about banning shark finning or posting awareness videos. It’s about understanding what really works—supporting science-based policies, enforcing marine protected areas, backing local researche...
July 20, 2025
How Marine Conservation Works: From Community Action to Global Policy
How Marine Conservation Works is the foundation for protecting our oceans, but it’s often misunderstood. In this episode, we break down how marine conservation really happens—from grassroots community efforts and local fisher...
July 17, 2025
Texas Flood 2025: Smarter Tools Needed To Save Lives
Texas Flood 2025 revealed just how urgently we need smarter tools in disaster response. In this episode, Dave Jones, founder of StormCenter Communications, explains how his team used satellite imagery and real-time mapping to...
July 15, 2025
Conservation Is About Collaboration And Balean Is All About Collaboration
Conservation is about collaboration, and collaboration is what we are discussing today. Ocean collaboration is at the heart of many conservation success stories, but what happens when it breaks down? In this episode of the Ho...
July 13, 2025
Orca Allokelping: Newly Documented Mutual Grooming Tool Use in Marine Mammals
Orca Allokelping is the newly documented behavior where southern resident killer whales use bull kelp as a tool to rub against each other—possibly to remove dead skin and soothe irritation. Captured via drone, this social spa...
July 10, 2025
All The Sharks Netflix Review: It's A Must Watch
All The Sharks Netflix finally delivers what ocean lovers and science communicators have been asking for: a show that gets shark science right. In this episode, Andrew breaks down how the new game show sets itself apart from ...
July 8, 2025
Ocean Networks Canada: What It’s Really Like to Work in the Deep Sea
Ocean careers are often imagined as adventurous and exciting, but what does it actually mean to work in the ocean every day, especially in the deep sea? In this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, Andrew speaks w...
July 6, 2025
Ocean Ramsay's Shark Whisperer, A Review of the Conservation Claims and Controversies
Ocean Ramsay's new documentary, called Shark Whisperer, is out on Netflix, and this is my review. This episode investigates Ocean Ramsey’s viral shark interactions, including her approach of touching and redirecting sharks in...
July 3, 2025
Ocean Conservation Disconnect with People: Straws, Sharks, and Science Barriers
Ocean Conservation Disconnect defines the state of ocean conservation today, where public enthusiasm rarely translates into real impact. The viral plastic straw campaign proved that a simple symbol could spark global conversa...
July 1, 2025
Tuna Sustainability and The Work of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation
Tuna sustainability is more than a buzzword—it’s a complex challenge tackled head-on by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In this episode, Susan Jackson , ISSF President, joins host Andrew Lewin to u...
June 26, 2025
How French Polynesia Protected 4.8 Million km² of Ocean: The World’s Largest MPA
French Polynesia marine protected area is now the largest in the world, covering nearly 4.8 million square kilometers of ocean. This groundbreaking conservation effort was announced during the United Nations Ocean Conference ...
June 21, 2025
The Problem with Seaweed Aquaculture: Hidden Threats to Marine Life
The problem with seaweed aquaculture is that it’s not always as ocean-friendly as it seems. While seaweed farming is often praised as a climate solution—able to sequester carbon, improve water quality, and support sustainable...
June 19, 2025
UN Ocean Conference 2025: Big Promises, Global Funding, and the Push for Ocean Protection
UNOC 2025 brought major headlines in ocean conservation—from billions pledged to protect biodiversity, to significant movement on the High Seas Treaty. In this episode, Andrew Lewin returns from the UN Ocean Conference in Nic...
June 15, 2025
Why Cayman Islanders Voted to Stop a Cruise Ship Pier and Save Their Reef
Why Cayman Islanders Voted against a massive cruise ship pier is a rare and powerful story of reef protection over profit. In this episode of How to Protect the Ocean , Andrew Lewin unpacks the bold decision by Cayman citizen...