In celebration of our upcoming 100th Thank You Ocean Report podcast, we launched a contest that let our supporters and fans select their favorite podcast. The winner: sharks!

The Project AWARE Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization working with divers around the world to conserve underwater environments. On this report, former Director Jenny Miller Garmendia talks about one of their projects that is aimed at protecting sharks. (This podcast was originally broadcast on September 6, 2010)

For more information, visit:

• Project AWARE’s Sharks in Peril page

What is this threat and how can it affect our ocean world? What does it mean for organisms such as sea urchins? Dr. Gretchen Hoffman, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara, discusses her work with Ocean Acidification and why we should pay attention. (Photos courtesy of NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory)

For more information, please visit:

• Gretchen Hoffman, UCSB
• NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
• TYO podcast “Acid Test”
• TYO Climate Change page

On Earth Day, we often see the NASA photo from space of Earth as a Big Blue Marble, but what makes it blue? The ocean! We talked with Wallace J. Nichols about BlueMarbles.org, the global movement inspired by the Earth as a Blue Marble. The idea? Pass a blue marble through every person’s hand on earth, with a simple message of gratitude along with it. (Photo courtesy of Neil Osborne)

For more information, please visit:

• Blue Marbles Project
• Blue Marbles Facebook
• Blue Marbles Twitter
• NASA Blue Marble

The Pacific Gyre is a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of ocean currents. We talked with Marcus Eriksen, the executive director of the 5 Gyres Institute, about ocean gyres and the Pacific Garbage Patch, said to be twice the size of Texas, floating between Hawaii and California. (Photo courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program)

For more information, please visit:

• 5Gyres Institute
• NOAA Marine Debris Program – “Garbage Patch”
• Plastic Pollution Coalition
• TYO Take Action Against Marine Debris

Sea turtles are fascinating iconic symbols of the ocean. All species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered, and they connect us with many of the environmental challenges facing the ocean. We talk with Wallace “J” Nichols, research associate at California Academy of Sciences and champion of sea turtle conservation, about sea turtle survival and a groundbreaking effort in Baja, Mexico employing “Citizen Science.” (Photo courtesy of Wallace “J” Nichols)

For more information, please visit:

• Wallace “J” Nichols
• Grupo Tortuguero
• NOAA Fisheries, Marine Turtles

For more information, visit:

• Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association
• Marine Mammal Center
• NOAA Fisheries Service Wildlife Viewing

On March 11, 2011, a powerful tsunami hit Japan, destroying cities and villages, and carrying tons of debris out to sea. Ocean currents are projected to carry some of that debris to U.S. shores, including the West Coast. It’s uncertain what is still floating, where it’s located, where it will go, and when it will arrive. Nir Barnea, West Coast Regional Director, NOAA Marine Debris Program, has the latest information.

Learn more:

• NOAA Marine Debris Program-Japan Tsunami Debris
• What You Can Do
• Thank You Ocean: Marine Debris
• Marine Debris Tracker

America’s ocean treasures are right off our coasts! National marine sanctuaries are special ocean places that have a unique ability to touch people. Thirteen national marine sanctuaries and one marine national monument make up the National Marine Sanctuary System. Four are in California: Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, Monterey Bay and Channel Islands national marine sanctuaries. Dan Basta, Director of the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, talks about how “America’s ocean treasures” help people change how they think about our ocean and create a “community of the committed.”

For more information, visit:

• NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries
• Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
• Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
• Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
• Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

King Tides are the highest predicted high tides of the year.  Combined with winter storm events, these high water levels can show us how rising sea levels due to climate change might impact our communities in the future.  The California King Tides Initiative is inviting the public to shoot (from a safe distance) and share photos online using social media to build a living record of current and future coastal areas vulnerable to inundation.   Marina Psaros from the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve discusses how these photographs help us visualize the future impacts from sea level rise in your local community and all along the California coastline.
 
For more information, visit:
 

• California King Tides Initiative
• California King Tides Flickr Page
• Thank You Ocean Climate Change Page

For more information, visit:

• CA Assembly Member Paul Fong
• CA Assembly Member Jared Huffman
• AB 376 fact sheet (NRDC)
• Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance (APAOHA)