Places | Ocean Doctor | Ocean Conservation

Eating Our Way Out of the Ocean’s Problems — A Chef’s Perspective

August 14, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

August 15, 2011: Our special guest is National Geographic Fellow and acclaimed chef, author, and speaker Barton Seaver, who seeks to restore our relationship with the ocean, the land, and with each other through dinner. His new book is For Cod and Country: Simple, Delicious, Sustainable Cooking. If you’re not hungry, you will be by the end of this show! Also: A giant sea monster discovered in the UK and a close encounter with the largest animal that’s ever lived.

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. Or listen to us on your iPhone, Android phone, WebOS phone, BlackBerry or tablet, including the iPad, with the free Stitcher SmartRadio app.?See the complete list of episodes. Follow The Ocean Doctor on Twitter — Become a Fan on Facebook! Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below. Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Podcast, Sustainable Aquaculture, Washington, DC Tagged With: aquaculture, Barton Seaver, blue whales, bp, bp deepwater horizon, bp oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, Mote Marine Laboratory, national geographic, National Geographic Society, oil spill, Sustainable Aquaculture, sustainable seafood, whales

National Geographic’s Newest Explorer

August 2, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

August 1, 2011: We visit National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC to meet the newest National Geographic “Explorer in Residence,” Dr. Enric Sala and his important work on the “Pristine Seas” program with expeditions to the last remaining pristine areas in the ocean. We also hear the incredible story of a humpback whale, rescued at the brink of death, that said “thank you” to its human rescuers. And we hear the tragic story of the loss of one of our colleagues in Cuba.

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. Or listen to us on your iPhone, Android phone, WebOS phone, BlackBerry or tablet, including the iPad, with the free Stitcher SmartRadio app. See the complete list of episodes. Follow The Ocean Doctor on Twitter — Become a Fan on Facebook! Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below. Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Cuba, Podcast, Washington, DC Tagged With: Alonso Ramos, Cuba, Earth Island Institute, Enric Sala, entanglement, environmental education, Great Whale Conservancy, humpback whale, Jardines de la Reina, Michael Fishbach, national geographic, National Geographic Society, pristine seas, sea of cortez, whales

The Fish You’ll Eat Tomorrow

May 8, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

May 9, 2011: They are the maddening questions that haunt us when eating seafood: What fish is safe to eat? What fish is sustainable? Is farmed better than wild caught? Our guest is Marianne Cufone, now Executive Director of the Alliance for Sustainable Aquaponics, with sound advice on eating seafood and a glimpse of the fish and other food you’ll eat tomorrow. Also: The Ocean Doctor’s next expedition and more about the film, “Cuba: The Accidental Eden.”

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Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Podcast, Sustainable Aquaculture, USA & Territories Tagged With: Alliance for Sustainable Aquaponics, aquaculture, Food and Water Watch, Marianne Cufone, Mary Queen of Viet Nam Community Development Corporation, New Orleans East, ras, recirculating aquaculture systems, Sustainable Aquaculture

An Expedition Dedicated to Alonso, Whom We Lost Tragically Yesterday

May 6, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

Eduardo Alonso Ramos, 1970-2011

His name is Eduardo Alonso Ramos, but everyone calls him “Alonso.” He and Lachi, also a colleague from the University of Havana’s Center for Marine Research (Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, CIM) were supposed to join me for a final meeting at Havana’s Marina Hemingway yesterday in final preparations for our expedition, which they were planning to be part of.

They never arrived. That’s not unusual here in Cuba. Transportation is often a nightmare. Perhaps his motorcycle broke down. Perhaps he couldn’t get gas. Who knows? I wasn’t worried. Though it was a bit unusual that they never called, even last night.

This morning I learned the tragic truth, and it’s still sinking in. Alonso was filling a SCUBA tank at CIM yesterday afternoon when it exploded, killing him instantly. He was only 41. He leaves a wife, 36, who is pregnant. They buried him this morning. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections

Awaiting Final Permits to Sail

May 3, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

The fuel tanks are full, the holds are full, our equipment has been triple-checked, so we’re ready to set sail from Havana on a journey that will take us half way around the island of Cuba.We are awaiting final permits that we expect sometime tomorrow. I attached a new hose and computer to my regulator assembly and took a few breaths of compressed air, my first in too many months. That cool, dry air put a big smile on my face and reminded me why we’re here.

Our colleagues were aboard yesterday morning to finalize our expedition plan and sampling locations. They’ll be using a stereoscopic (3D) HD video system that will take close-up, high-resolution video of the coral reefs we visit for later analysis. The system provides sufficiently high-quality video as to allow for analysis of fish just a few mm long. I’m looking forward to getting acquainted with this incredible system, but mostly I just look forward to getting in…and under…the water.

Filed Under: Cuba Tagged With: Cuba

Cuba Expedition Sails Wednesday May 4, 2011

May 2, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

The Ocean Foundation’s collaborative expedition in Cuba sets sail on Wednesday, May 4th to explore previously unexplored coral reef environments from Havana westward along Cuba’s northwestern coast and eastward to Jardines de la Reina along Cuba’s southern coast. Stay tuned for updates from the Ocean Doctor!!

Filed Under: Cuba Tagged With: Cuba

The Gentleman Biologist of Pier 39

April 25, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

April 25, 2011: Take a walk out to the end of San Francisco’s Pier 39, and you’ll hear an interesting symphony of barking California sea lions and reactions of delight and amusement from droves of human onlookers. And if you’re lucky, you might also find the “Gentleman Biologist of Pier 39,” Tim Vogel, a volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, who has pursued tech career in Silicon Valley but has never forgotten his Seacamp roots. He spends hours teaching and inspiring visitors about the incredible wildlife of the West Coast and the wonders of science. Also: An update on the penguin rescue effort from Tristan da Cunha by Trevor Glass, Director of the Department of Conservation there.

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Filed Under: Cape to Cape Expedition, Nightingale Island Disaster Penguin & Seabird Rescue, Podcast, South Atlantic Ocean, Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island, USA & Territories Tagged With: California sea lions, Cape Town, Inaccessible Island, Marine Mammal Center, Nightingale Island, oil spill, Oliva, penguins, Pier 39, Prince Albert II, San Francisco, Sausalito, sea lions, Seacamp, seals, Silversea, Timothy Vogel, Trevor Glass, Tristan Da Cunha, wildlife rehabilitation

A Statistically Impossible Plea for Help

April 22, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

Vessel “Oliva” breaking apart and spilling oil at Nightingale Island (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

EARTH DAY 2011: This isn’t what I had planned to write for Earth Day. But it’s the most important thing I can write today. I write these words with a single, challenging purpose: I need you to care deeply about something. I need you to care about something that wasn’t supposed to be possible. I need you to care so deeply that you choose to help. And to make things even more challenging, what I need you to care about is a place you’ve never heard of and are very unlikely to see in your lifetime, a place that’s such an infinitesimally tiny speck lying quite literally in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, it appears on few maps (and even befuddles Google maps). And unless you’re one of the fewer than 300 people that call Tristan da Cunha home, it will take you at best 5-7 days to get to this airstrip-lacking place even if you dash out the door before finishing this paragraph. Tristan da Cunha is, quite literally, the most remote inhabited island in the world. A sign on the island boasts this factoid, alongside a marker pointing east toward the nearest civilization: 1,511 miles to Cape Town, South Africa. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Nightingale Island Disaster Penguin & Seabird Rescue, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, South Atlantic Ocean, Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island Tagged With: Inaccessible Island, Nightingale Island, Northern Rockhopper Penguins, oil spill, penguins, RSPB, SANCCOB, Silversea, Trevor Glass, Tristan Da Cunha, Will Wagstaff

VIDEO: Dramatic Rescue of Freighter Crew by Prince Albert II Expedition Team, Penguin Rescue (CNN)

April 6, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

Dramatic video shot by Kristine Hannon details the rescue of 12 crew members aboard the bulk carrier, “Oliva,” on March 17, 2011, where it grounded the prior day. Within hours of the successful rescue, the ship broke in two and sunk, unleashing a massive oil spill, threatening millions of seabirds including the endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cape to Cape Expedition, Featured, Nightingale Island Disaster Penguin & Seabird Rescue, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, South Atlantic Ocean, Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale Island, Inaccessible Island Tagged With: CNN, Nightingale Island, oil spill, Oliva, penguins, seals, Tristan Da Cunha, video

The Great Penguin Rescue

April 4, 2011 By Ocean Doctor

April 4, 2011: Our guest this week, penguin expert, Dyan deNapoli, ?The Penguin Lady,? former Senior Penguin Aquarist at the New England Aquarium, talks about her new book, The Great Penguin Rescue. with important lessons ? and hope ? for the desperate penguin rescue and rehabilitation efforts underway following the tragic oil spill at Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic. Also: An update on the rescue effort from Tristan da Cunha by Katrine Herian of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

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