How To Protect The Ocean

Ask most people what the lungs of the planet are, and they'll say forests. Marine biologist Emily Cunningham would point you to phytoplankton: tiny drifting algae that produce about half the oxygen made on Earth. That gap between what the ocean does for us and what we think it does is why she wrote her first book.
Our Ocean to Save: How to Protect Our Greatest Climate Ally is Emily's answer to the question she hears more than any other: "What can I do to help the ocean?" Not a list of don'ts, but a hopeful, practical guide for anyone, anywhere.
In this episode, Emily tells Andrew how a manatee CD-ROM game turned a landlocked kid from Staffordshire into a marine biologist, how a viral Twitter thread from Antarctica led to a book deal, and why she started seeing ocean threats as symptoms of bigger social problems after volunteering with a community-led turtle project in Sri Lanka. She explains shifting baselines in plain language, how she went from restoration skeptic to convert, why hope is a verb, and why research suggests we only need about one in four people on board to change what society expects. And she shares how Motion for the Ocean, the local government ocean recovery declaration she co-founded, has been passed by more than 40 councils across the UK, and how you can bring it to your own town, even if you live by a lake.
Links mentioned in this episode
Our Ocean to Save (North America), Chelsea Green: https://www.chelseagreen.com/?p=2121059
Our Ocean to Save (UK), Pan Macmillan: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/emily-cunningham/our-ocean-to-save/9781035065271
Motion for the Ocean: https://oceanconservationtrust.org/project/the-motion-for-the-ocean/
Emily Cunningham: https://emilycunningham.co.uk
Emily on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinebiologylife
Billion Oyster Project: https://www.billionoysterproject.org
Last week's episodes on Tofino and the plastics treaty (2059, 2061):  Tofino Plastic episode: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-245/
Plastic Treaty episode: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-247/

Andrew's earlier interview with Emily, recorded in Malaysia: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/reaching-out-to-politicians-and-international-adaptation-of-motion4theocean/
Takeaways
The ocean is a climate ally: phytoplankton produce about half of Earth's oxygen and the ocean absorbs huge amounts of heat and carbon
People do care about the ocean; what's missing is a clear, positive path to action
Shifting baselines hide how much abundance we've lost, so imagine the ocean you want, not just the one you know
Let yourself grieve, then channel that feeling into action with other people
Many ocean threats are symptoms of poverty and injustice; conservation works best with communities in the driving seat
Restoration isn't a substitute for tackling causes, but it's a powerful way to bring new people in
Your action: ask your local council to pass a Motion for the Ocean, or set a calendar reminder to follow through on your own ocean action

Have you ever had an idea for your community, like a beach cleanup, a water fountain, or a patch of shoreline that needs some love, and thought, "If I just had a little money, I could make this happen"? That kind of funding is hard to find. In the UK, there's a charity built for exactly that.
Sea-Changers was founded about 15 years ago by Helen Webb and Rachel Lopata, two divers with no background in marine science who watched the places they loved underwater start to decline. Instead of starting one project, they started a way to fund hundreds. They bring in money from businesses and foundations and hand it out as small grants, mostly £500 to £2,500, to community-led marine conservation projects across the UK. By their count, that's more than 600 projects so far.
In this episode, recorded the week before Andrew heads to the International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC8) in Edinburgh, Helen and Rachel share how they turned ocean anxiety into action, why they let communities choose their own priorities, and why some projects deserve funding on faith. You'll hear how an early grant helped Project Seagrass get started, how a small innovation grant proved dogs can sniff out invasive sea squirts, how a learning fund connects isolated groups across Scotland, and why income is still one of the biggest barriers to taking part in conservation. Helen and Rachel are speaking on the "Small Grants, Big Impact" panel at IMCC8. If you're there, come find them, and Andrew.
Links mentioned in this episode
Sea-Changers: https://www.sea-changers.org.uk/
Sea-Changers Innovation Fund: https://www.sea-changers.org.uk/innovation-fund
Project Seagrass: https://www.projectseagrass.org/about
IMCC8, Edinburgh, November 13 to 17, 2026: https://conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc8/
Last week's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-243/
Andrew's episode with Chad Nelson, Surfrider Foundation CEO: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/sufb-1195-grassroots-marine-conservation/
Sea-Changers socials Instagram: @beaseachanger, https://www.instagram.com/beaseachanger/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seachangersorg/
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/sea-changers

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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"We'll never see that in our lifetime." You've probably heard it about the ocean. Andrew has heard it plenty, and admits he's said it too. For years it was the standard answer about protecting the high seas, the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any country's borders. Then the High Seas Treaty was agreed, entered into force in January 2026, and passed 100 countries in September, Canada included.
In this week's wrap-up, Andrew uses that win to show why a global plastics treaty can happen too, and how it gets built from the ground up. He walks through the ladder: a town like Tofino banning plastics one item at a time, the case that takes to the province, Canada's national single-use plastics ban and the court fight over it, and finally the global treaty talks, where more than 100 countries back cutting plastic production while a handful of oil producers and a crowd of industry lobbyists push back.
You'll hear why the lobbyists showing up is a sign the treaty is a real threat to business as usual, what high-ambition countries could do if the UN process stalls, why community pride like the kind Andrew saw around Lake Superior is the energy this needs, and the one email you can send before the weekend.
Links mentioned in this episode
Surfrider Foundation Canada: Take action and email your MP: https://www.canada.surfrider.org/take-action
Start or join a Surfrider Canada chapter or club: https://canada.surfrider.org/get-involved
High Seas Alliance: High Seas Treaty passes 100 parties (September 2026): https://highseasalliance.org/2026/09/23/the-high-seas-treaty-reaches-100-parties-cementing-momentum-ahead-of-its-first-conference/
Geneva Environment Network: Global Plastics Treaty timeline and INC-5.4: https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/international-cooperation-on-plastic-pollution/
Monday's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-243/
Tuesday's episode: Too Enthusiastic? Finding your place in ocean action: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-244/
Wednesday's episode: The Beach That Doesn't Need Cleaning Anymore: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-245/
[ADD LINK] Thursday's episode: The Straw Backlash: Why Guilt Doesn't Work: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-246/
Takeaways
"Not in our lifetime" was the answer on the high seas for years, until the High Seas Treaty became international law in 2026
Big agreements take patient, resilient people willing to compromise, and enough public push
Local plastic bans become proof for provinces, provincial rules become proof for countries, and national bans build the case for a global treaty
Canada's single-use plastics ban survived a Federal Court of Appeal challenge in January 2026; the Supreme Court will hear industry's appeal next
More than 100 countries back a path to cutting plastic production; a handful of oil producers are blocking it
Record lobbyist turnout signals that industry sees the treaty as a real threat
Your action: email your MP before the weekend and ask Ottawa to be ambitious on plastics
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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"You can't care about plastic. Your phone is made of plastic." If you've ever heard that, you know what it's for. It's designed to make you feel like a hypocrite, so you give up.
In this episode, Andrew goes back to one of the most famous moments in plastic pollution: the 2015 video of researchers in Costa Rica pulling a plastic straw from an olive ridley sea turtle's nose. A few months later, the same researcher pulled a plastic fork from another turtle. The straw video helped spark a global push against single-use plastics, and then the straw itself became a punchline.
Andrew explains why the straw was never the point (it was a gateway to all the single-use plastic we don't need), why the backlash is louder than it is large, and why plastic has grown from a turtle problem into a human health, climate and biodiversity issue. Then he gets to the heart of it: guilt doesn't work. Plastic is a system design problem, not a personal failing, and solutions-first conversations bring people in where blame pushes them away. You'll leave with a simple answer to the next "your phone is plastic" comment.
Links mentioned in this episode
The 2015 sea turtle straw video (graphic): https://youtu.be/d2J2qdOrW44
Oceana Canada and Abacus Data (2024): Canadians' support for the single-use plastics ban: https://oceana.ca/en/press-releases/tackling-plastic-pollution-is-a-non-partisan-issue-oceana-canada-poll-shows-vast-majority-of-canadians-still-support-banning-single-use-plastics
IMCC8, Edinburgh, November 13 to 17, 2026: https://conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc8/
Takeaways
"Your phone is made of plastic" is a guilt trap designed to make you give up
The straw video went viral in 2015 and helped launch a global push against single-use plastics
The straw was never the point; it was a gateway to all the single-use plastic we don't need
Polls show most Canadians support the single-use plastics ban; the backlash is a loud minority
Plastic is now a human health, climate, biodiversity and human rights issue, not just a turtle problem
Guilt makes people tune out; solutions-first messages bring them in
Your action: next time someone says "your phone is plastic," agree, and say that's exactly why the system needs to change

Picture a beach cleanup. Two hours of hauling bottles, wrappers and foam off the sand. Now picture the same beach ten years later, where you walk the whole length and come home empty-handed. Not because nobody cleaned it, but because there's nothing left to clean.
That's a real story, and it happened in Tofino, a surf town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In 2016 its beaches were covered in plastic, and the local Surfrider chapter realized they could clean every weekend for the rest of their lives and it would never stop. So they changed tactics. They went to the businesses handing out single-use plastic, skipped the blame and shame, and spoke to what those businesses cared about: being environmental leaders.
Andrew walks through the playbook that followed. Make the early adopters the heroes. Offer real alternatives, reusables first and locally compostable fibre second. Keep straws on hand for people who need them. Then lock it in with policy. Over a decade, Tofino and Ucluelet banned plastic straws, bags, foam takeout containers and cutlery, and this past April Tofino became the first municipality in Canada to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. You'll also hear why a committed minority can be enough to tip a community, and the one conversation you can have this week to start the same thing where you live.
Links mentioned in this episode
Surfrider Foundation Canada: https://canada.surfrider.org
Start or join a chapter or club: https://canada.surfrider.org/get-involved
Surfrider Pacific Rim coastal victories: https://pacificrim.surfrider.org/victories
District of Tofino: single-use items bylaw: https://tofino.ca/public-services/safety/bylaw-enforcement/single-use-items/
District of Tofino: Canada's first plastic water bottle ban: https://tofino.ca/tofino-makes-history-on-earth-day-as-canadas-first-municipality-to-ban-single-use-plastic-water-bottles/
Centola et al. (2018), Science: tipping points in social convention: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aas8827
Monday's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-243/
Takeaways
Cleanups matter, but the goal is to make them unnecessary by stopping plastic at the source
Tofino's volunteers stopped blaming businesses and spoke to what they valued: pride in being environmental leaders
Promoting a few early adopters made other businesses want in
Real alternatives made change possible: reusables first, locally compostable fibre second, rigid bioplastics skipped
Accessibility stays in the plan: straws on hand for anyone who needs one
Voluntary change builds support; bans lock it in for everyone
Your action: have one friendly conversation with a local business owner about reusables
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
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc
YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube