Ocean Currents Radio Program

The arts influence us in a multitude of ways. The arts have certainly expanded our understanding, appreciation, and awareness and knowledge about the ocean. I talk with 4 artists who have helped advance our understanding of the ocean through their work. Guests: Jim Toomey, Larry Graff, Cleo Vilett, Jodi Lomask

Jonathan Kathrein was just 16 at the time he endured a white shark attack at Stinson Beach, CA in 1998. The experience changed his life forever and he has become a passionate shark conservation spokesperson.

Scot Anderson, shark researcher and Ron Elliot, former urchin diver/recreational shark watcher talk about the white sharks around Point Reyes and the Farallon Islands. What are the researchers looking at and hear Ron's amazing stories of diving regularly with white sharks.

Hear passages and an overview of author Liz Cunningham's upcoming book Ocean Country. Liz travels to Indonesia, the Mediterranean, the CA Coast, the Turks and Caicos and more to discover how ocean conservation challenges are affecting real people and places right now. At the end of the show, we get an ocean update from Jaime Jahnke, Point Blue Conservation Science about the highlights from the latest Applied CA Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) cruise.

When a whale dies and falls to the seafloor a fascinating community of animals take over in the deep sea. Shannon Johnson, a research technician at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute describes the process and how scientists are studying these unique opportunistic communities.

Students from OceanShore School in Pacifica, CA have been getting ready for an in depth study of the ocean for Oceans Week. Listen to students from grades K-8 ask their questions about the ocean and listen to experts' answers as we all learn something new and ponder the incredible amount of knowledge we've gained about the ocean by asking questions!

Rachel Binah, environmental, community, political activist who led the fight against oil rigs on the north coast of CA in 1988 with Lease Sale 91 and won in the short term. Hear the story and how to stay involved on this issue

Hear about the 10th annual San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival and hear from filmmakers with films showing at the festival

Listen to the introductory presentations at the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Expansion Scoping meeting. Presentations were given by sanctuary superintendents Dan Howard, Maria Brown, former Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, Tom Roth, and Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo. The 2nd half of the show interviews Dr. Sarah Allen about the 2012/2013 Elephant Seal breeding season at the Point Reyes National Seashore

Guests: Lauren Wenzel-National Marine Protected Areas Center, Dan Howard, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Shannon Lyday, Hawaii Pacific University We cover some terminology used frequently in talking about marine protected areas, and discuss the recent announcement of the expansion process for Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries, and finally we remember Rich Stallcup who gave countless hours of time, knowledge, and dedication to the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank sanctuaries.

California's ports that are busy with large ship traffic also overlap with some of the most important feeding areas for large whales, whales have found dead as a result from getting struck by these ships, find out what conservation groups, science groups, industry, and agencies like NOAA are doing to work together to reduce the impact on these endangered species.

How do the tiniest living things in the ocean dominate the food web and ocean processes? Learn about the many complexities of phytoplankton and find out how important it is not only to the ocean food web, but to us humans. Guest: Dr. William Cochlan- biological oceanographer

Hear Eben Schwartz from the CA Coastal Commission talk about the status of marine debris and coastal pollution reduction efforts in California

The Ocean Inside: An adventure afilm and art project exploring the deeper side of the ocean found in everyone.

Hear how the 2012 spring season is shaping up out on the Farallon islands and about the oceanographic conditions that dictate what wildlife will be breeding and feeding in the coming months. Also, hear about the Bluemind Symposium and how the Leatherback Sea Turtle may become the State of California's official marine reptile.

What will it take to raise the awareness of the ocean amongst our legislators and voters? Hear Daniel J. Basta, director of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, NOAA, and Mike Dunmyer, Executive Director of Ocean Champions share their ideas about this issue.

Learn from NOAA Tsunami expert Dr. Vasily Titov, from NOAA's Center for Tsunami Research about the natural phenomena of tsunamis, as we remember the tragic March, 2011 tsunami that impacted the coast of Japan. We also focus on the aftermath of debris that entered the ocean after the tsunami and discuss how it is traveling and how the North Pacific Gyre system is moving debris across and around the Pacific.

Dr. Jim Delgado, Director of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuary's Maritime Heritage Program talks about the various shipwrecks, cultural landscapes and stories that have shaped our society as we know today. How does the past, shape our future?

I talked with Barbara Emley, a San Francisco based fisherman (yes fisherman!) who fishes Salmon and Dungeness crab with her husband Larry. We cover many aspects of fishing policies, issues, the livelihood, and her most recent efforts to establish a San Francisco Fishermans coop.

Laura-Rogers Bennett, Senior Biologist Specialist with the California Department of Fish and Game and UC Davis Wildlife Health Center talks about the highly prized abalone snail and the impact of a late summer "Red Tide" that resulted in a huge die off and early recreational abalone fishery closure.

The first half of the show highlights the Pathstar program, a program that SF doctor Nancy Iverson started to help the native american Lakota tribe in Pine Ridge South Dakota, where participants come to San Francisco and complete a transformative swim in SF Bay from Alcatraz to shore, amongst several other educative activities. The 2nd half of the show I talk with Josh Adams, seabird ecologist with the Western Ecological Research Center, USGS. Josh talks about the incredible lifestyle of Sooty Shearwaters, their natural history and hotspots in the CA Current for them.

In July, 2010 several experts spoke at a special workshop convening educators, scientists, policy makers and the public in American Samoa highlighting the involvement of indigenous cultures with management and responsible use of ocean resources. This show highlights a few of the speakers at the workshop and is in two parts. Part one of two.

In July, 2010 several experts spoke at a special workshop convening educators, scientists, policy makers and the public in American Samoa highlighting the involvement of indigenous cultures with management and responsible use of ocean resources. This show highlights a few of the speakers at the workshop and is in two parts. Part two of two.

Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer-retired oceanographer, professional beachcomber Curt has studied oceanographic currents his entire life. In the 1990s Curt founded the Beachcombers Network to connect some types of marine debris that washed up on shore with its sources. Every piece of debris has a human story, some more interesting than others. Curt's book, Flotsametrics and the Floating World describes the entire story and how science has advanced by tracking items like Nike Shoes and Rubber Duckies and their dispersal from container spills at sea.

David Reynolds, chief meteorologist of NOAA's National Weather Service forecast office in Monterey, CA talks about various ocean conditions and how they impact our weather. He also addresses how climate change may impact our weather on the coast of CA.

Michael Stocker of Ocean Conservation Research, talks about the latest in underwater noise, especially associated with oil exploration and drilling.

The spring and summer months of 2010 were incredibly productive for migratory and local wildlife in the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries and all along the west coast of CA. Hear from Dr. Jaime Jahnke of PRBO Conservation Science about the observations made during the collaborative Applied CA Current Ecosystem Studies Program (ACCESS). On the second half of the show, hear from David McGuire from Sea Stewards as he talks about Sharktober Fest, a series of events and programs geared to increase awareness and appreciation for sharks. Scott Tye from Marin Surfrider Foundation closes the show highlighting water quality issues and events Marin Surfrider is hosting in October.

Hear about the expected climate change impacts that our coastal and ocean ecosystem in Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries may expect. What do we know now? What do decision makers need to do to prepare? What can we do?

Scot Anderson has been actively participating in white shark research at the Farallon islands and off the coast of Point Reyes. Hear about how a once feared animal, is now a species of concern.

Meet the leaders and students of a Bay Watershed Education and Training Program (BWET) program happening amongst the wilds of West Marin. Hear students talk about their experiences out and about,learning about the coastal ecosystem.

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.<br /> 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<br /> 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.