Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Mariner Nick Landon’s life at sea Jan 02, 2023

Show notes

David Helvarg speaks with Nick Landon, a young mariner who chose to bet his future on the sea. Landon traces his path from four years at the California Maritime Academy to the working reality of life as a third mate aboard an oil tanker — the long watches, the constant decision-making, and the particular solitude of open water. He recounts the ship's stretch in dry dock in the Bahamas, where steel meets salt and the unglamorous machinery of maritime commerce gets laid bare. The conversation moves through the environmental shifts reshaping the modern fleet, the marine wildlife Landon has encountered along the way, and the message he carries to high school students weighing a life defined by tides and trade winds over one anchored to shore.

Rising Tide #72 – Carleen Lyden Walker’s Maritime Industry Vision Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

A co-founder and Executive Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), Carleen Lyden Walker talks to us about the challenges of transitioning the world’s shipping industry into an ocean and climate friendly sector of the blue economy.

Among key issues we discuss are public education about ports and shipping, decarbonizing the global fleet of 90,000 plus large vessels, dealing with whale strikes and offshore pollution and what it means to be a woman leader in a historically male industry.

Rising Tide, the Ocean Podcast is co-hosted by Blue Frontier's David Helvarg and the Inland Ocean Coalition's Vicki Nichols-Goldstein. This podcast aims to give you information, inspiration and motivation (along with a few laughs) to help understand our ocean world and make it better. The ocean is rising, and so are we!

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #71 – NOAA’s Rick Spinrad works from the Sun to the Sea Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

Undersecretary of Commerce Dr. Rick Spinrad, Administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) talks with us about his responsibilities from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the sea. He discusses NOAA’s varied resources and people working for our public seas plus ongoing challenges including sea level rise, overfishing and ocean acidification. We also discuss its billions in new Infrastructure and climate funding and how he came out of retirement for “the best job in the world.”

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #70 – “Who hears the Fishes When they Cry?” Carrie Wall! Nov 21, 2022

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Henry David Thoreau asked the question in an 1849 book. Actually, fish are more likely to hum and croak according to Dr. Carrie Wall, NOAA Fisheries Acoustic Archivist at the University of Colorado.

Carrie not only studies and collects the sounds of fish - she knows how to imitate them. In our version of NPR’s ‘Science Friday’ we learn about ocean acoustics, human caused ocean noise and how there are still some areas of ocean quiet. So enjoy our conversation with Dr. Wall.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #69 – Alexandra Morton vs. the Salmon Farms Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we talk with Alexandra Morton, who’s been called the Jane Goodall of Canada. After spending years studying the language of resident Orcas along a remote stretch of British Columbia she turned her attention to the salmon farms that displaced the Orcas and harmed the wild salmon they feed on.

Morton discusses Orcas, her decades long fight with the industry and ultimately how she –with Indigenous first nations - helped shut down the industrial fish farms. Plus she imitates what Orcas sound like when they’re talking.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #68 – Capt. Paul Watson’s New Command Oct 24, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we talk to leading ocean warrior Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. We talk about his background fighting for beavers, seals and whales and his recent break up with Sea Shepherd over its purpose and direction.

We also discuss his new Paul Watson Foundation, his biocentric religion, phytoplankton and the planet and how his time at the siege of Wounded Knee taught him not to fear for the future. Join us for this very special episode.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #67 - Sherman’s 2 Years Before the Mast Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we reconnect with our friend 'Sherman’s Lagoon' creator Jim Toomey to talk about his new book, ‘Family Afloat – Two Years Sailing the World with Two Kids and Two Captains.’ Along with a bit of history of his popular shark-based cartoon strip, Jim shares some of the rollicking, inspiring and even frightening moments he and his family (and two hamsters) experienced sailing the Med, the Caribbean and crossing the Atlantic. It’s a whale of a tale that of course includes a whale encounter.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #66 - Nancy Knowlton’s Ocean Optimism Sep 25, 2022

Show notes

In this episode David talks with renowned marine scientist Dr. Nancy Knowlton about her background, her work on coral reefs and her launching of a multi-disciplinary, solution oriented marine program at Scripps. She also talks about her expanding work on ocean and earth optimism at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and why that’s not an oxymoron but a starting point. This and more on restoration and realism makes for an engaging and, dare we say, hopeful segment.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #65 – Oysters in a Troubled Bay Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

In this episode we have a hopeful but challenging talk with Linda Hunter, founder and director of the Wild Oyster Project that’s working to restore San Francisco Bay’s once abundant oyster reefs. Linda tells us why oysters are “working class heroes” keeping estuary ecosystems healthy. We discuss the major fish-killing Algal Bloom now occurring in the bay and how her oysters are faring, plus discuss the community volunteers working to restore SF bay oysters.

Learn more at bluefront.org

Rising Tide #64 – Isabella Kirkland’s Art of Nature Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

In our conversation with artist Isabella Kirkland we talk about her detailed paintings of biodiversity both terrestrial and ocean-based and the exacting research that goes into her beautiful works. The late biologist and author EO Wilson called her works “classic in the original and best sense of the word.” Join us in a lively informative talk as we discuss nudibranchs large and small, what inspired her to do a portrait of squat lobsters and why she finds shrimp hard to paint.

Learn more at bluefront.org

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