Tag: "ocean"

Sanctuary for Whales, Sanctuary for Sharks

Sanctuary for Whales, Sanctuary for Sharks

Yesterday I led another expedition out into the Gulf of the Farallones on the Outer Limits with Captain Jimmy. Primarily billed as whale watching, these trips are really about the entire ecosystem, and when I’m aboard, we talk shark, because sharks are what I love, study, advocate and protect through my non-profit Sea Stewards.

 
Guadalupe Island: Protecting Sharks through Ecotourism

Guadalupe Island: Protecting Sharks through Ecotourism

Last week I joined four Italian photographers, three Japanese and six Americans on a Mexican Shark watching vessel to enter underwater cages, and experience what it is like to be in the water with a Great White Shark.

 
Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Plastic is forever, with virtually every piece of petroleum-based plastic ever made still in existence. That's why it's so critical to oceans and beaches that we dramatically reduce our use of plastics, especially single-use plastics.

 
Clean it Up

Clean it Up

Plastic in the ocean doesn’t go away, it just gets smaller. Approximately 70% of this plastic sinks to the bottom where it sits like a time bomb waiting to be assimilated.

 
The State of the Ocean

The State of the Ocean

The ocean is our planet’s heartbeat, and the future heartbeat for billions of humans.

 
Sea Lions, Herring, and Climate Change

Sea Lions, Herring, and Climate Change

I thought I’d check in on the sea lions at Pier 39. Just a few years ago, there were about 1600 of them. Then in 2009, most of them swam away.

 
After Earth Day, Celebrate the Other 71% with World Oceans Day

After Earth Day, Celebrate the Other 71% with World Oceans Day

It's time to celebrate our ocean with World Oceans Day.

 
Sea Foam Lathers Up the Ocean

Sea Foam Lathers Up the Ocean

Sometimes, the wind and the waves whip the ocean into a lather. And that word—lather—is a pretty accurate description of sea foam.

 
When A Sanctuary Is No Longer A Sanctuary

When A Sanctuary Is No Longer A Sanctuary

All is not well in our national marine sanctuaries. This summer and fall there have been at least six ship strikes on whales in the Gulf of the Farallones, the Monterey Bay and near the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuaries.

 
Sand Waves and the Golden Gate

Sand Waves and the Golden Gate

Mapping of the underwater topography (called bathymetry) reveals landscapes fundamental to understanding the Bay Area's unique geology. The Golden Gate strait connects the San Francisco Bay to the open Pacific Ocean and is only one mile across.

 
Diving in Cordell Bank

Diving in Cordell Bank

Over the past five days I have had the incredible experience of diving on a location few have ever had the opportunity: the Cordell Bank.

 
What Happened to the Humboldt Squid?

What Happened to the Humboldt Squid?

Large numbers of Humboldt squid, deep purple-red and up to six feet long, have propelled themselves into Monterey Bay each June since 2002. But this year, the squid have yet to arrive.

 
Reporter's Notes: Protecting Marine Reserves

Reporter's Notes: Protecting Marine Reserves

Argentine ants have had amazing success as an invasive species in the US. Their West Coast super colony numbers in the billions and spans from Mexico to Oregon. But aside from invading homes, they've had a dramatic effect on native ants and local ecosystems.

 
Producer's Notes: Scary Tsunamis

Producer's Notes: Scary Tsunamis

On January 26, 1700, at about 9:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time one of the largest earthquakes ever to strike the Pacific Northwest rumbled across the Cascadia Subduction Zone. This massive earthquake sent a giant 33 foot high tsunami crashing onto shore, inundating the quiet coastline.

 
Reporter's Notes: Journey to the Farallones

Reporter's Notes: Journey to the Farallones

Our trip to the Farallon Islands was certainly eventful: seasickness (me), bug bites (me) and immersion in one of the most unique wildlife habitats in the world (luckily). This chain of windblown rocks, about 27 miles from San Francisco, is teeming with 300,000 seabirds in the spring and summer.

 
Reporter's Notes: Sea Lion Rescue

Reporter's Notes: Sea Lion Rescue

For these notes, I thought I'd focus on something that didn’t make it into the sea lions radio broadcast: the necropsy. Each year the Marine Mammal Center treats somewhere between 600-1000 animals, including California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, Northern elephant seals, and steller sea lions. About half of them are treated successfully at the [...]

 
Producer's Notes: Seahorse Sleuths

Producer's Notes: Seahorse Sleuths

This planet may have seemed endlessly bountiful 2000 years ago, but today we can no longer afford to take the survival of non-human species for granted.

 
Underwater Update

Underwater Update

We heard about the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's new underwater laboratory in a radio story last fall. When that story aired, the lab (known as the Monterey Accelerated Research System, or MARS) was just getting going, with lots of neat experiments planned. Now, few of those have become a reality.

 
Reporter's Notes: Medicine from the Ocean Floor

Reporter's Notes: Medicine from the Ocean Floor

Scientists gather samples on the ocean floor. Credit: Roger Linington.There's nothing new about looking to nature to cure disease – we've been doing it for thousands of years, with good results. (Two recent examples: The active ingredient in aspirin was first identified in the bark of the willow tree. And we have the Pacific yew [...]

 
Reporter's Notes: Underwater Laboratory

Reporter's Notes: Underwater Laboratory

The Eye in the Sea is one of the coolest, gee-whiz scientific projects you'll see. It's part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's so-called MARS project (that stands for Monterey Accelerated Research System). MARS is an undersea laboratory, set up deep on the sea floor about 30 miles offshore from Monterey.