It's time for a NOAA Ocean Podcast "Science Moment," where we sample the best segments from our past full-length podcasts. In this episode, hear about an effort called GPS on Bench Marks. A bench mark is a term used to describe any permanent mark or disk that's either in the ground or attached to a large structure. This permanent mark has a known elevation or height which makes it valuable to NOAA. There are over 400,000 bench marks in the United States, and in the GPS on Bench Marks project, anyone can visit the bench mark of their choice, record field notes, take digital photos, and collect GPS observations or coordinates and then use online tools to send the information to NOAA.

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How NOAA scientists use marine biogeography—the study of marine species, the geographic distribution of their habitats, and the relationships between living organisms and the environment—to help locate the best sites to place potential future alternative energy sites in the ocean.

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The ocean is home to millions of different forms of life—yet we know surprisingly little about the creatures that live right along our shores, how they interact with each other, or how they're changing as the ocean environment they live in changes. Hear how the U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network aims to change that. The goal is to ensure that scientists not only notice changes in biodiversity at locations around the nation, but also have the tools in place to better understand what these changes tell us about ocean health over time.

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What is ocean noise and what is NOAA doing to reduce this threat in our national marine sanctuaries? Many marine organisms, including marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates, rely on sound and hearing for their survival. Over the last century, increases in human activity within our ocean have led to increasing levels of noise. This increasing amount of noise from human sources is a rising concern for the health and well-being of marine organisms and ecosystems. In this episode, we talk with NOAA marine ecologist Dr. Leila Hatch about her work to better understand the ocean soundscape by developing programs that can establish baselines, detect changes in noise levels, and support the design of methods to reduce noise impacts.

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Listen in as we talk about coral reef health, specifically how reefs respond to stressful events like coral bleaching.

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Coral reefs are under intense pressure from climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use. So what can we do about it? To answer that question, we need to better understand the main threat to our reefs. Humans. Tune in to this excerpt from a longer interview we posted back in March 2016 with NOAA social scientists Maria Dillard and Peter Edwards.

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In this episode, we talk with a NOAA economist about our ocean economy and how, no matter where you live in the United States, you are connected to our ocean economy.

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Money does not grow on trees, but it could be growing in our coastal salt marshes and sea grass beds. A team of researchers is working at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve on Cape Cod in Massachusetts on the "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project to study the connections between coastal wetlands, carbon dioxide uptake and storage, and the global carbon trading economy. Wetlands have the potential to serve as valuable assets in carbon trading markets – but only if we protect them, and don't dig up the treasure!

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In this episode, we talk with a NOAA expert about how (and why) we forecast harmful algal blooms.

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