1943 episodes
- For a week straight, Andrew watched his own sky turn orange outside Toronto as smoke from nearly 900 wildfires burning across Canada, most of them following the boreal forest from the east coast to Northwestern Ontario, drifted south into the US and back again. He walks through what actually happened on the ground: which towns and First Nations were evacuated, how bad the air quality got (Toronto briefly had the worst AQI in the world), and why northwestern Ontario, not a hugely populated area but home to vulnerable First Nations communities, bore the brunt of it.
Then he digs into why this keeps happening. Most of Ontario's fires this season were sparked by lightning, not arson, despite conspiracy theories claiming otherwise (arson accounts for well under a quarter of cases). An active El Nino is drying things out further, and climate change is intensifying the underlying heat and dryness that let these fires spread. Andrew also connects the dots to the ocean directly: the boreal forest is one of the planet's biggest carbon sinks, and when it burns that stored carbon heads into the atmosphere, where roughly a quarter of it eventually gets absorbed by the ocean, driving further acidification.
The back half of the episode gets political. Ontario slashed its emergency firefighting budget from $271 million spent in 2025-26 down to $150 million budgeted for 2026-27, even as Premier Doug Ford defends the province's readiness. Meanwhile, US President Trump and several senators have floated tariffs and sanctions against Canada over the smoke, a move Andrew calls scientifically and diplomatically backwards given how often Canada and the US send firefighters and equipment across the border to help each other. He closes with concrete steps listeners can take, from checking air quality indexes to contacting elected officials about wildfire funding.
Takeaways From the Episode
Nearly 900 wildfires were burning across Canada as of July 16, most following the boreal forest belt into Northwestern Ontario.
Vulnerable First Nations communities and small towns bore the brunt of evacuations, some residents had to self-evacuate by boat or air with little warning.
Most fires were lightning-caused, not arson, arson accounts for well under a quarter of cases despite online conspiracy theories.
Burning boreal forest releases stored carbon into the atmosphere, and roughly a quarter of human-caused CO2 emissions get absorbed by the ocean, tying wildfires directly to ocean acidification.
Ontario cut its baseline emergency firefighting budget from $271 million spent to $150 million budgeted for the coming year, a proactive-versus-reactive funding problem.
US tariffs and sanctions threats against Canada over the smoke ignore how often the two countries help each other fight fires, including the loss of a Canadian firefighter in Colorado this year.
Individual actions still matter: check air quality indexes before extended time outdoors, follow evacuation orders immediately if you're in a fire zone, keep a 72-hour go bag ready, and contact your elected officials if wildfire underfunding frustrates you.
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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YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube - If you've ever felt a hard strike, fought a fish, and reeled up nothing but a head, you already know what shark depredation feels like. In this episode, Andrew breaks down a new study that tracked shark depredation across the entire Atlantic coast, from Maine to Texas and the US Caribbean, going back a full century to figure out why it's happening more now than ever before.
The study found at least 51 targeted fish stocks affected and 22 shark species involved, with bull sharks and sandbar sharks showing up most often. But the real story isn't that sharks are out of control. It's that decades of shark conservation, starting with the 1993 US shark management plan, actually worked, and a recovering shark population combined with more anglers on the water means more overlap, and more overlap means more bite-offs.
Andrew unpacks the concept of "dead discards," the fish that die during depredation but never get counted in stock assessments, and why that creates a blind spot in fishery management. The episode closes with concrete, same-day actions anglers (and non-anglers) can take, from changing fishing tactics to reporting depredation events to NOAA, so both fish and shark populations can keep being managed well.
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 - A thousand meters down off the coast of Brazil, a deep-sea robot caught something almost no one has ever filmed alive: a giant open ocean octopus calmly eating a jellyfish. That moment, captured by the Schmidt Ocean Institute's ROV SuBastian aboard the research vessel Falkor (too), was part of a wider expedition that turned up more than two dozen species new to science, from glowing worms to glass squid to strange colonial siphonophores.
The discovery points to something bigger than one expedition. The ocean's midwater, the vast zone between the sunlit surface and the seafloor, is by volume the largest living space on the planet, and we've barely looked at it. It's also doing quiet, essential work: midwater animals help drive the biological carbon pump, moving millions of tons of carbon from the surface into the deep ocean every year and helping regulate the climate we all live in.
That same midwater is now facing a decision. Deep-sea mining companies want to extract metals from the seafloor below it, and the sediment plumes that the process kicks up could drift for enormous distances through this fragile, newly discovered ecosystem. The rulebook that would allow commercial mining hasn't been finished yet, and dozens of countries, including Canada and Brazil, have called for a pause. This episode breaks down what was found, why it matters, and what you can actually do about it this week.
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 - In 1978, an Exxon scientist asked a question in capital letters: were the oceans dissolving coral reefs? By 1982, Exxon's own scientists had the answer, in writing. So did Shell by 1986. This episode traces a newly published Oxford University study that dug through more than fourteen thousand pages of fossil fuel industry documents and found that the world's biggest oil and gas companies understood, decades before the public did, exactly how their product would wreck coral reefs.
We walk through what the industry knew and when, how a funded think tank report in 2012 was built to look like an official government climate assessment while contradicting the industry's own internal science, and where coral reefs stand today after the largest global bleaching event ever recorded. Along the way, we cover the coral chemistry that makes reefs vulnerable to rising CO2, the internal Exxon and Shell documents at the center of the Oxford study, and how this paper trail is now showing up as evidence in real courtrooms, including a landmark January 2026 ruling in The Hague.
This isn't a story to leave you paralyzed. It closes with four concrete actions you can take this week, from sharing what you now know to pushing the emissions lever that actually moves the needle. If you care about coral reefs, or you just want the receipts on one of the biggest corporate cover-ups tied to the ocean, this episode is for you.
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 - For more than a decade, almost 2,000 volunteers have walked California's beaches with clipboards, counting every swimmer, surfer, angler, and boat they see. It sounds simple, maybe even a little strange. But that pile of data, more than a million tally marks collected between 2012 and 2020, just answered a question marine scientists have debated for years: do marine protected areas actually work in the real world, not just on paper?
In this episode, we walk through what researchers found when they finally pulled that decade of volunteer data together. We look at how the MPA Watch program trains everyday people to track human activity on the coast, how scientists stripped out the noise to find the real signal, and what the numbers say about compliance, recreation, and enforcement inside no-take zones. We also connect this human data to a separate decade of underwater fish surveys, and to the famous Cabo Pulmo recovery story, to show why watching people matters as much as watching fish.
The takeaway is simple but important. Ocean protection does not have to mean locking people out, and it does not happen by accident. It works when people believe in it, follow it, and watch over it, and this episode gives you a few concrete ways to be one of those people, whether that means joining MPA Watch yourself, learning your local rules, or just reporting what you see.
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
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About How To Protect The Ocean
Dive into the Depths: Join Andrew Lewin on 'How to Protect the Ocean' – Your Gateway to Exclusive Ocean Insights! Explore the latest, uncharted realms of ocean science and conservation that you won't find anywhere else. Andrew takes you on an inspiring journey to uncover the hidden gems of oceanic discovery and initiatives. Tune in to discover how you can transform your life for a better ocean, one episode at a time.
The How To Protect The Ocean is your resource to keep you informed on the latest ocean news; teach you how to speak up for the ocean; and, how you can take action to live for a better ocean.
There is so much information on the ocean and the issues that are affecting it that it can be difficult to find optimism in the future of the ocean. Climate change, overfishing, plastic pollution, water pollution, and coastal development have altered the ocean in ways that have negatively changed the way we use it.
The repercussions of climate change, including the ominous specter of rising sea levels, the relentless march of warming ocean temperatures, and the ominous shadow of ocean acidification, have not only altered the very fabric of our coastlines but have also conjured fiercer storms and summoned floods with growing frequency. The fossil fuel industry may whisper in your ear that the situation is insurmountable, an inescapable fate. However, this podcast is here to unveil a different narrative, one that empowers you to take action. It illuminates the path to change by casting your vote for leaders committed to implementing climate-rescuing policies and by offering invaluable insights into how each of us can shrink our individual carbon footprint.
The grim reality of overfishing casts a long shadow, fueled by governmental shortcomings in the stewardship of both commercial and recreational fisheries. Within the delicate balance of our oceans, every fish population possesses a threshold - a point at which the relentless harvest of fishermen begins to erode their numbers. The management of these aquatic resources is a formidable task, as the elusive currents of the sea often defy easy tracking. Furthermore, the menace of illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing looms large in many nations, adding to the crisis.
Yet, a glimmer of hope shines through the depths. A beacon for responsible consumption emerges in the form of seafood programs, guiding conscientious individuals toward choices that safeguard our oceans. By heeding these programs, you not only savor the delights of sustainable seafood but also become an informed guardian of marine ecosystems.
The relentless scourge of plastic pollution has unleashed an epidemic of death upon the denizens of our oceans. It's a ruthless killer, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, majestic sharks, grandiose fish, gentle sea turtles, and the graceful sea birds that soar above. The malevolence of this crisis knows no bounds, with microplastics infiltrating even the remotest depths of the ocean and etching their presence along every coastline.
To mount a defense against this ecological cataclysm, the clarion call for action echoes on the international and national stages. It beckons governments far and wide to adopt resolute policies, wielding the power to outlaw the menace of single-use plastics and demanding the meticulous detoxification of our supply chains. In this grand battle to safeguard our seas, the fight against plastic pollution knows no borders.
The ominous specter of water pollution looms large, a consequence of our thoughtless disposal into the arteries of our planet – our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. This callous act reverberates, sending shockwaves through the intricate ecosystems of our coastal havens, where the likes of coral reefs, resilient mangroves, and swaying seagrasses thrive. But alas, this intrusion is not benign; it bears the capacity to corrode and dismantle these vital sanctuaries, the very lifeblood of countless fish and the steadfast guardians of our vulnerable shorelines.
Yet, amidst the unsettling tide of pollution, there emerges a ray of hope. Through individual resolve and visionary government policies harnessed with cutting-edge technology, we can stem this toxic deluge. Water treatment systems stand as stalwart guardians, armed with the ability to sift out the insidious nutrients that fuel destructive algal blooms. The power to heal our waters and preserve the sanctity of our coastal treasures lies within our grasp.
Coastal development, driven by human desires to construct homes or fortify the shoreline against erosion, represents a significant intervention in the natural order. Yet, these changes, while initially confined to the coastal zone, often send ripple effects that extend far beyond their original boundaries, casting a shadow of unintended consequences.
The repercussions of altering coastlines resonate through interconnected ecosystems, occasionally triggering a cascade of events that can inflict profound harm on distant areas. In doing so, this well-intentioned transformation can unwittingly imperil the lives and livelihoods of communities residing in the wake of its impact. It is a stark reminder that our actions along the coast carry a profound responsibility, not just to the immediate environment but to the greater web of life and society that depends upon it.
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