When water runs off of farmland and urban centers and flows into our streams and rivers, it is often chock-full of fertilizers and other nutrients. These massive loads of nutrients eventually end up in our coastal ocean, fueling a chain of events that can lead to hypoxic "dead zones" — areas along the sea floor where oxygen is so low it can no longer sustain marine life. In this episode, we're joined by NOAA scientist Alan Lewitus to explore why dead zones form, how the problem of hypoxia is gro...
Feb 22, 2018•19 min
Geodesy is a science that covers the Earth itself. It's the reason we know where we are, and how we can make maps of where we are and where we want to go. In this episode, learn how this science with an unfamiliar name shapes much of what we do every day. Episode permanent link and show notes
Jan 18, 2018•15 min
In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, our latest podcast highlights NOAA efforts in partnership with native communities in Alaska to restore and protect precious ocean resources. In this episode, we learn just how challenging the issue of marine debris can be in the vast wilderness of Alaska, how the NOAA Marine Debris program is working to solve this problem, and how the key to beating this issue is in the innovation and ingenuity of the community working to address it. Episode perm...
Nov 16, 2017•5 min
It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, learn about how coral reefs respond to stressful events like coral bleaching. Episode permanent link and show notes
Aug 23, 2017•3 min
Do you know the difference between a tide, a current, and a tidal current? Why (and how) do we study the motion of the ocean? Episode permanent link and show notes
Jul 27, 2017•3 min
It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, learn about NOAA's historical map and chart collection of more than 35,000 scanned images. Episode permanent link and show notes
Jul 21, 2017•3 min
In our latest episode, we explore the history and work of NOAA's Commissioned Officer Corps--one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. NOAA Corps officers command NOAA's fleet of research and survey ships and also pilot NOAA's environmental data-gathering aircraft, including the agency's hurricane hunter planes. The NOAA Corps is celebrating a century of service to the nation this year, 2017. Episode permanent link and show notes...
May 25, 2017•10 min
It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, learn about marine animal telemetry, used to help scientist understand the ocean and marine life better. Episode permanent link and show notes
May 11, 2017•6 min
In today's NOAA Ocean Podcast, we talk about moving towards restoration at industrial waste sites. For more than a century, industrial activities have released hazardous chemicals and heavy metals into the environment. Both accidental spills and intentional discharges from chemical manufacturing, oil storage and transfer, ship building, and port operations have contaminated many of America's rivers and coastal resources. Join us as we talk with Reyhan Mehran from NOAA's Office of Response and Re...
May 04, 2017•14 min
It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, hear about volunteering opportunities at one of our national marine sanctuary sites around the nation. Episode permanent link and show notes
Apr 17, 2017•4 min
It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, hear about an effort called GPS on Bench Marks. A bench mark is a term used to describe any permanent mark or disk that's either in the ground or attached to a large structure. This permanent mark has a known elevation or height which makes it valuable to NOAA. There are over 400,000 bench marks in the United States, and in the GPS on Bench Marks project, an...
Mar 23, 2017•5 min
How NOAA scientists use marine biogeography—the study of marine species, the geographic distribution of their habitats, and the relationships between living organisms and the environment—to help locate the best sites to place potential future alternative energy sites in the ocean. Episode permanent link and show notes
Mar 01, 2017•16 min
The ocean is home to millions of different forms of life—yet we know surprisingly little about the creatures that live right along our shores, how they interact with each other, or how they're changing as the ocean environment they live in changes. Hear how the U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network aims to change that. The goal is to ensure that scientists not only notice changes in biodiversity at locations around the nation, but also have the tools in place to better understand what the...
Jan 19, 2017•16 min
What is ocean noise and what is NOAA doing to reduce this threat in our national marine sanctuaries? Many marine organisms, including marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates, rely on sound and hearing for their survival. Over the last century, increases in human activity within our ocean have led to increasing levels of noise. This increasing amount of noise from human sources is a rising concern for the health and well-being of marine organisms and ecosystems. In this episode, we ta...
Dec 08, 2016•14 min
Listen in as we talk about coral reef health, specifically how reefs respond to stressful events like coral bleaching. Episode permanent link and show notes
Sep 22, 2016•17 min
Coral reefs are under intense pressure from climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use. So what can we do about it? To answer that question, we need to better understand the main threat to our reefs. Humans. Tune in to this excerpt from a longer interview we posted back in March 2016 with NOAA social scientists Maria Dillard and Peter Edwards. Episode permanent link and show notes
Sep 15, 2016•6 min
In this episode, we talk with a NOAA economist about our ocean economy and how, no matter where you live in the United States, you are connected to our ocean economy. Episode permanent link and show notes
Aug 18, 2016•4 min
Money does not grow on trees, but it could be growing in our coastal salt marshes and sea grass beds. A team of researchers is working at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve on Cape Cod in Massachusetts on the "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project to study the connections between coastal wetlands, carbon dioxide uptake and storage, and the global carbon trading economy. Wetlands have the potential to serve as valuable assets in carbon trading markets – but only if we protect them, and don't dig up the ...
Aug 04, 2016•13 min
Dive into our latest Diving Deeper audio podcast as we explore the effects of microplastics on our ocean and Great Lakes environment. Episode permanent link and show notes
Jun 30, 2016•16 min
In this episode, we talk with a NOAA expert about how (and why) we forecast harmful algal blooms. Episode permanent link and show notes
May 05, 2016•4 min
One hundred and four years ago this month, the RMS Titanic sank after striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from the United Kingdom to New York City. In recognition of this tragedy, we present an interview with Jim Delgado, Director of Maritime Heritage with NOS's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This podcast is an excerpt from a special two-part podcast published in 2012. Episode permanent link and show notes...
Apr 15, 2016•4 min
Dive into our latest Diving Deeper audio podcast as we explore the benefits of living shorelines. Episode permanent link and show notes
Apr 07, 2016•17 min
Coral reefs are under intense pressure from climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use. So what can we do about it? To answer that question, we need to better understand the main threat to our reefs. Humans. Episode permanent link and show notes
Mar 24, 2016•16 min
In this episode, we look back at a November 2014 archaeological expedition led by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program. This mission brought back the first-ever 3-D images of the City of Rio de Janeiro, considered by many historians as the "Titanic of the Golden Gate." Listen in to this conversation with NOAA's Robert Schwemmer, co-leader of a two-year study to locate and document shipwrecks in California’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the s...
Feb 17, 2016•4 min
Alaska—the largest and most remote state in the United States—is filled with wilderness and beauty, and unfortunately with marine debris. With a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined, Alaska finds itself with the greatest concentration of marine debris in our country. In this episode, we learn just how challenging the issue of marine debris can be in the vast wilderness of this state, how the NOAA Marine Debris program is working to solve this problem, and how the key to beati...
Jan 28, 2016•16 min
Have four minutes? Dive into our latest Ocean Shorts audio podcast as we explore what an invasive species is and how they are introduced to an area. Episode permanent link and show notes
Jan 21, 2016•4 min
Dive into our latest Diving Deeper audio podcast as we explore the importance of Hawaii's coral reefs and what makes these reefs so unique. Episode permanent link and show notes
Dec 03, 2015•22 min
Dive into our latest Ocean Shorts podcast as we explore how marine debris moves in our environment and what causes it to move. Episode permanent link and show notes
Nov 24, 2015•5 min
An effort to restore eelgrass beds along Virginia's eastern shore began with people painstakingly planting 200 acres of eelgrass seeds by hand. Today, these eelgrass meadows have grown to 6,195 acres — providing a home for an estimated 240,000 bay scallops! Episode permanent link and show notes
Oct 29, 2015•4 min
In this episode, we talk with a NOAA oceanographer about nuisance flooding--what it is, where it's happening, and what drives it. Episode permanent link and show notes
Oct 22, 2015•15 min
