How To Protect The Ocean

Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise at least 1,000 meters from the seafloor without breaking the surface, and they punch far above their weight biologically. Topographic upwelling pulls cold, nutrient-rich water up their slopes, fueling plankton blooms that draw fish, sharks, seabirds, and marine mammals, while their rocky surfaces give slow-growing corals and sponges a rare hard place to root in an otherwise soft-sediment deep sea. Roughly one in five seamount species are endemic, found nowhere else on Earth, which is why scientists call them oases in the deep sea.
That's exactly what made a pair of Australian studies so consequential. In 1997, researchers led by Tony Koslow and Karen Gowlett-Holmes of CSIRO Marine Research surveyed seamounts south of Tasmania to test whether bottom trawling for orange roughy was damaging habitat that had taken centuries to form, and whether a proposed marine reserve would actually protect it. What they found on heavily fished seamounts, compared to lightly fished or untouched ones, was stark: stripped reef, collapsed biomass, and far fewer species per sample. A 2009 follow-up study by Althaus and colleagues went further, analyzing tens of thousands of video frames and photos across 25 seamounts, and found coral cover reduced by roughly two orders of magnitude on trawled sites, with no sign of recovery even five years after trawling stopped.
Those findings are part of what pushed Matthew Gianni, a former deep-sea fisherman, to help found the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and push for international protections against high seas bottom trawling. This episode walks through what seamounts are, what the research actually found, and why damage this far down might be effectively permanent on any timescale that matters to us.
Takeaways:
Seamounts are volcanic underwater mountains that drive upwelling, concentrate biodiversity, and host high rates of endemic species found nowhere else.
Bottom trawling for species like orange roughy drags heavy gear across seamount slopes, destroying coral and sponge habitat that can take centuries to build.
A 1997 CSIRO-led survey south of Tasmania found dramatically lower biomass and species richness on heavily trawled seamounts compared to lightly fished or untouched ones.
A 2009 follow-up study found roughly a hundredfold decline in coral cover on trawled seamounts, with no clear sign of recovery five years after trawling stopped.
Because this damage happens far below the surface and outside any sunlight or recreational diving range, it's often invisible until a dedicated scientific survey documents it.
This research helped inspire the founding of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and international efforts to restrict high seas bottom trawling.
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Before he ever sat across a table from UN delegates, Matthew Gianni spent 10 years working as a commercial fisherman up and down both US coasts. Gillnetting for Spanish and king mackerel in Florida. Bottom trawling off central California, New England, and Florida for sole, redfish, hake, sablefish, shrimp, and other groundfish. Hook-and-lining for salmon and albacore tuna in Oregon and California. Running pots for Dungeness crab and dredging for deep sea scallops on Georges Bank. In today's episode, I trace how that decade on deck, watching coral and glass sponges get shoveled back overboard from trawls that dragged the seafloor a thousand meters down, planted the seed for a career that would eventually take him to the UN General Assembly.
Two fights as a working fisherman pushed Matthew toward advocacy. First, he helped organize fellow fishermen to halt a $110 million plan to dump San Francisco Bay dredge spoils directly onto prime fishing grounds off the Southern California coast, a fight that eventually moved the disposal site off the continental shelf. Second, he represented the fishing industry in efforts to block new offshore oil and gas leases along the central California coast. Both wins showed him what organized advocacy could accomplish, and they set him on a path toward Greenpeace International, where he helped launch the international fisheries campaign, worked on the UN's 1991-1992 moratorium on high seas driftnet fishing [VERIFY dates], and eventually ran Greenpeace's global Ocean Program from Amsterdam.
In the early 2000s, Matthew co-founded the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an international coalition of organizations working to protect deep sea biodiversity from harmful activities, where he now serves as political and policy advisor. What started as a fight against deep sea bottom trawling on seamounts has, since 2014, expanded to include deep sea mining, an industry Matthew argues is moving to tear into the seabed before scientists even have a baseline understanding of what lives there. This is the first episode in a week-long series on the deep sea, building toward my full interview with Matthew, airing Friday.
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Science communication has a blind spot: it keeps putting the same faces in front of the microphone. In this episode, Andrew talks with Amy Weldon, host and executive producer of the podcast Blue Collar White Coat, about why she built an entire show around the people science coverage usually skips. Amy spent 15 years in science communications, starting at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and now uses that background to track down the electricians, dive supervisors, ship repair technicians, and life-support operators who keep ocean and space research running.
The conversation covers why Amy chose podcasting over blogging or short-form video to reach people who aren't already interested in science, what changed between her first and second season of guest outreach, and how she gets nervous first-time interviewees comfortable enough to open up. Andrew and Amy also compare notes on the mechanics of podcasting itself: editing habits, the reality of "pod fade," and what Joe Rogan's career actually teaches other podcasters (hint: it's not SEO). They close with a preview of Amy's stacked second season lineup and a shared preview of November's International Marine Conservation Congress in Edinburgh.
If you've ever wondered who actually keeps a NASA clean room running, or why the person who cleans your aquarium's fish tanks might have a better story than the PhD next to them, this episode is for you.

Check out the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@BlueCollarWhiteCoat
Takeaways:
Amy Weldon built Blue Collar White Coat to interview the people who make science and conservation possible without holding a PhD themselves — electricians, dive supervisors, ship repair techs, aquarium life-support staff.
Podcasting appealed to Amy because it reaches audiences who aren't already interested in science, the way radio once did across demographics.
The hardest part of running an interview podcast is logistics and scheduling, not content; the easiest part is that people are eager to talk once you make it easy for them.
Pre-interview calls and sending questions in advance dramatically lowers guest anxiety, especially for first-time interviewees unused to a microphone.
Season two of Blue Collar White Coat leans further into skilled trades, featuring NASA facilities staff, three different aquariums, and a Norfolk, Virginia naval ship repair yard.
Andrew and Amy will both present at the International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC8) in Edinburgh, Scotland this November.
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YouTube has quietly become one of the best platforms for ocean science communication, and in this episode Andrew breaks down exactly why. Fresh off yesterday's 2,000-episode milestone and the new Pisces Oceans licensing agreement, Andrew explains why he's diving back into YouTube after stepping away last spring, including the launch of a brand new daily show, Ocean Decoded Live.
Andrew walks through his own history with video, from the early days of Speak Up for Blue TV through burnout, a rebrand, and now a fresh start under Ocean Decoded. He breaks down why YouTube's search-driven discovery beats subscriber-driven platforms for reaching new audiences, how B-roll and AI-assisted visuals solve the storytelling limits of audio-only podcasting, and why going live and unscripted brings back an authenticity that AI-written scripts were starting to erode.
The episode closes with a practical look at YouTube's two-tier Partner Program, how the ad revenue and fan-funding splits actually work, and two real-world case studies in ocean science: Kristian Parton's Shark Bytes channel and KPassionate's marine mammal content. Andrew also previews tomorrow's interview with Amy Weldon of Blue Collar White Coats and shares where you can catch him talking workflow at IMCC8 in Edinburgh this November.
Takeaways:
YouTube is search-driven rather than subscriber-driven, which makes it a strong discovery platform for niche science content
Andrew is relaunching Ocean Decoded Live, a Monday–Thursday livestream (expanding toward Friday) at 4 PM Eastern covering ocean news
YouTube's Partner Program has two tiers: 500 subscribers unlocks fan funding (memberships, Super Chats), 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days unlocks full ad revenue
Standard ad revenue splits 55% creator / 45% YouTube; Super Chats, Super Stickers, and memberships split 70% creator / 30% YouTube
Going unscripted and live restores authenticity that Andrew felt was eroding when he leaned too heavily on AI-written scripts
Kristian Parton's Shark Bytes and KPassionate are cited as examples of ocean science creators building sustainable income on YouTube
Andrew will be discussing content workflow at IMCC8 in Edinburgh, Scotland, November 13–17, 2026
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Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca

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Today marks episode 2000 of How to Protect the Ocean, and Andrew is taking a break from the usual format to look back at how this show came to be. From an accidental start in 2010 to a name change driven by search engine optimization, to over 3 million downloads across 11 years, this episode traces the full arc of the podcast's history.
Andrew also opens up about how podcasting reshaped his career. What started as a side project outside of work hours led to TV documentary appearances, podcast hosting offers including a multi-year run on the Toronto Zoo podcast, and eventually the job offer that became his dream role. Along the way, he helped launch an estimated 20 to 25 other podcasts, including Beyond Jaws, the shark science show he co-hosts with Dr. David Ebert.
The biggest news of the episode is the announcement that How to Protect the Ocean is now officially licensed to Pisces Oceans, the same organization where Andrew now works as their ocean communications manager. He explains why this partnership matters, what it means for the quality of future episodes, and how it sets up a bigger ocean impact going forward, including the launch of new shows across the Pisces podcast network.
Takeaways:
How to Protect the Ocean began as Speak Up for Blue in 2010, later became Speak Up for the Ocean Blue for SEO reasons, before settling on its current name
The show has generated an estimated 3 million downloads over 11 years of consistent publishing
Andrew has helped launch an estimated 20 to 25 podcasts, including Beyond Jaws with Dr. David Ebert
Podcasting led to TV documentary appearances, podcast hosting offers, and ultimately Andrew's current role at Pisces Oceans
How to Protect the Ocean is now officially licensed to Pisces Oceans, with the goal of improving show quality and increasing ocean impact
The Pisces network is expanding to include Ocean Leaders podcast and Polar Bears and Flip Flops with Angelo Villagomez [VERIFY]
Ocean Decoded Live continues weekdays at 4 pm Eastern on YouTube
Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon
Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca

Connect with Speak Up For Blue
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