Ocean Currents Radio Program

Wave Energy in California: Can the ocean generate a sustainable source of energy for us? Learn about the local wave energy project on the Sonoma Coast and other projects that are being planned for in CA. Hear about the types of technology and what environmental impacts could exist.

Guest: Riki Ott, Marine Biologist/Author of Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In 1989 the landscape and coastal communities of Alaska/Prince William Sound and beyond changed forever following the Exxon Valdex Oil Spill. What happened? How did this effect the communities along the coast? Why did the litigation process take 20 years and the compensation only pay 10 cents on the dollar for the losses?

West Coast Regional Director for the National Marine Sanctuary Program Bill Douros shares insight into how resource managers plan for multiple uses in a productive ecosystem like we have here on the west coast, a concept known as marine spatial planning, while keeping in mind the connections between land and sea and broad ecosystem connectivity.

Hear about the rocky intertidal docent program with the California Academy of Sciences and the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and find out how you can get involved in helping to educate tidepool visitors about minimizing impacts and hear about the winter Coho Salmon spawning events in the Lagunitas watershed in Marin County, California

Learn about 3 different types of National Marine Sanctuaries in NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program. Learn about the USS Monitor, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale, and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuaries from the east coast to the Pacific Ocean. Learn about the history of the establishment of this National program.

Ocean Revolutionary J. Nichols talks about his collaborative science and conservation work with Loggerhead Sea Turtles in Mexico and his education, inspiration, conservation work that he continues to build on nationally and internationally with communities everywhere. J is a co-founder of Ocean Revolution, an organization that works to build youth stewards internationally for the ocean.

Deep-sea corals can live for hundreds of years, but have laid mostly undiscovered. Learn how and where these corals are found and how scientists are using them to understand our climate history on our planet. You may be surprised to find out where these corals are found!

This show is a compilation of interviews from presenters at the annual National Marine Educators Association Conference in Monterey, CA. The show starts with an overview of NOAA's marine debris program, a live interview with staff from Algalita Marine Research Foundation, and moves towards ocean literacy with an interview with Craig Strang and Dr. Felicia Moore, and ending up with an overview of surfing at the infamous Mavericks, with filmmaker/surfer Grant Washburn.

This intrepid group of divers dove SCUBA on Cordell Bank in the late 1970's and early 80's. Their explorations were instrumental in the designation of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary in 1989. 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the sanctuary's designation. The founder and leader of the expeditions talks about the very beginning and how this expedition to Cordell Bank started.

Dan writes about the historical whaling era where blue whales were nearly written off of the planet, then delves into their survival, their natural history, and what scientists have learned to help aid in their conservation and understand the wildness of this recovering species. Tune in to listen to Dan talk about this mysterious mammal.

Monitoring oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. In 2009, PRBO and Cordell Bank NMS wil lbe collaborating to monitor ocean conditions in the national marine sanctuaries off the central CA coast. Find out more here.

Human generated noise in the ocean has increased steadily in the last few decades. Scientist John Hildebrand talks about how animals use sound and how the increase in sound is another form of pollution that can threaten marine life.

Have Gray whales returned to their historic population numbers? Evidence from a genetic study indicates that Gray Whales were historically in numbers 5x as abundant than what we today consider a recovered population. Find out what this evidence indicates in regards to our changing ocean.

The leatherback sea turtle has been on our planet for 70 million years, has survived huge changes on the planet, yet has met its worst enemy, us. In the past 30 years leatherbacks have plummeted to 95% of their original estimated population numbers. Hear from NOAA biologist Scott Benson who studies Leatherbacks and their large and small scale movements and Mike Milne from the Sea Turtle Restoration Project who is working to try to help protect turtles.

Roz Savage has completed the first part of her 3 phase mission.... to cross the Pacific Ocean in her rowboat. In September, 2008, Roz made it to Hawaii all the way from San Francisco. Tune in to hear about Roz's journey, the message she is trying to generate through her expedition, and where she's headed next.

Guests: Rita Bell, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Meghan Marrero, US Satellite Lab. If over 70% of our planet is covered in ocean, why is it barely covered in the K-12 curriculum in the US? An ocean literate person is defined as one who clearly understands the influence the ocean has on you, and your influence on the ocean. Find out what these leading educators have to say about this important ocean conservation topic.

Guest Ed Ueber, former superintendent of Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Ed has recently retired from a formidable career attached to the sea, and will share his perspectives and stories from his hard working career. What do some of his colleagues have to say? Tune in to hear from them as well.

Guests: Hugo Selbie, CA Sea Grant Fellow, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Catherine Marzin, Historical Ecology Program Manager, National Marine Sanctuary Program. How do we learn about our historic ecosystem health before we started collecting data? Learn how historical ecologists are probing into historic documents to learn about behavior modifications, shifting baselines, shifts in oceanographic productivity and more.

How do we learn about our historic ecosystem health before we started collecting data? Learn how historical ecologists are probing into historic documents to learn about behavior modifications, shifting baselines, shifts in oceanographic productivity and more. Guests: Hugo Selbie, CA Sea Grant Fellow, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Catherine Marzin, Historical Ecology Program Manager, National Marine Sanctuary Program

Randall Arauz is a Costa Rican biologist with Programa Restauracion de Tortugas Marinas (PRETOMA), a Costa Rican non-profit which is a marine conservation and research organization working to protect ocean resources and promote sustainable fisheries policies in Costa Rica and Central America. Randall works in partnership with the Sea Turtle Restoration Network based out of West Marin, CA. Randall will discuss leatherback turtle conservation efforts and behind the scenes of shark finning.