Ocean Protect Podcast

On 5th July 2022, Ocean Protect turns 20 years old. From very humble beginnings, Ocean Protect now stops an average of around eight tonnes of pollution entering our oceans every day. Michael Wicks (Ocean Protect Director and co-founder) joins Jeremy and Brad for a look back at some of the highs and lows of Ocean Protect.

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Tom Gammage is a plastic pollution campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency in London, where he is working to secure an ambitious new plastics treaty for the planet. We talk about the growing plastics 'emergency', the need for a global plastics treaty, the recent meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi to discuss such a treaty, and key recommended actions for government.

Useful links:

• Tom on LinkedIn (here):
• Environmental Investigation Agency (here)
• Recent Conversation article on the plastic treaty (here)
• Recent BBC News article on the need for a plastic treaty (here) 
• EIA report Connecting the Dots: Plastic pollution and the planetary emergency (here).

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Puget Sound is a sound of the Pacific Northwest (in north-western USA), an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. Every 'fall' (Autumn), more than half of the coho salmon that return to Puget Sound’s urban streams die before they can spawn. In some streams, all of them die. But scientists didn’t know why. Enter Ed Kolodziej (Associate Professor at the University of Washington) and his research team - who discovered that, when it rains, stormwater flushes bits of aging vehicle tires on roads into neighbouring streams. The killer is in the mix of chemicals that leach from tire wear particles: a molecule related to a preservative that keeps tires from breaking down too quickly. We talk about this research, the implications to waterways everywhere, and what we can do about it.

Useful links:

• https://www.ce.washington.edu/facultyfinder/edward-kolodziej
• Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-kolodziej-81a5717/
• Article “Saving the salmon - Researchers identify unknown chemical that causess death in stormwater-exposed coho salmon" - https://www.ce.washington.edu/news/article/2020-12-14/saving-salmon
• Article “Tire-related chemical is largely responsible for adult coho salmon deaths in urban streams”: https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/03/tire-related-chemical-largely-responsible-for-adult-coho-salmon-deaths-in-urban-streams/
• Publications by Ed et al: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Edward-Kolodziej

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Tim van Emmerik is Assistant Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, but joins us on this chat from Cambodia - during one of his riverine plastic research projects. We chat about the research paper that Tim recently co-authored assessing plastic discharges from rivers across the planet, and how to 'turn off the tap' of plastic pollution from rivers.

Useful links:

• https://timvanemmerik.com/
• Garth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garth-covernton-26544ba9/
• Paper "More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean" (here)

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Dr Garth Covernton is a University of Toronto Arts and Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow working as part of the pELAstics project, which aims to understand how microplastics pollution might affect various ecosystem processes. We talk about the human consumption of microplastics - like "how much?", "where from?", and the potential consequences to human health.

Useful links:

• https://garthcovernton.wordpress.com/
• Garth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garth-covernton-26544ba9/
• Paper "Human consumption of microplastics" (here)

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Andy Paine is from an organisation called Frontline Action on Coal, who use non-violent direct action tactics to try to stop the construction of polluting coal mines. Late last year, Andy and a colleague locked themselves to a train line to disrupt the first full trainload of coal from Adani's Carmichael mine in central Queensland, Australia. We talk about the Adani project, the effectiveness of 'frontline action', and what it's like to be locked to a train line.

Useful links:

• Frontline Action on Coal: https://frontlineaction.org/
• Stop Adani: https://www.stopadani.com/
• Queensland Government assessment of Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project: https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/coordinator-general/assessments-and-approvals/coordinated-projects/completed-projects/carmichael-coal-mine-and-rail-project

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Dr James Sippo is Postdoctoral Researcher in blue carbon at Southern Cross University, and is part of a team that has developed a new blue carbon accounting system that calculates the amount of carbon sequestered when tidal zones are returned to their natural state. We talk about blue carbon, its potential within coastal land for mitigating climate change, and reducing our own personal carbon footprint.

Useful links:

• James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-sippo-585a26191
• Article "Blue carbon accounting set to open coastal floodgates for abatement credits" (here)
• Report "Blue Carbon Accounting Model (BlueCAM) Technical Overview" (here)

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Dr Sarah Seabrook is a microbial ecologist and oceanographer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and The University of Auckland, New Zealand. In this chat, we talk about the role of the ocean as a climate regulator, and how to protect and enhance its ability to do this.

Useful links:

• https://www.sarahseabrook.com
• Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-seabrook-529704a3/
• Article "The ocean is our greatest climate regulator. It must be a stronger part of climate policy and action" (here)
• Paper "A new way forward for ocean-climate policy as reflected in the UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue submissions" (here)

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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Dr Lauren Roman is a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere, and her research focuses on marine debris (plastics and other litter in the ocean) and the impact it has on wildlife. In this chat, we talk about her (and her CSIRO team's) recent research analysing data from nearly 30,000 litter clean-ups from around the world and its implications on how to turn the tide on plastic pollution.

Useful links:

• Lauren: https://research.csiro.au/marinedebris/our-team/lauren-roman-2/
• Article "We analysed data from 29,798 clean-ups around the world to uncover some of the worst litter hotspots”: https://theconversation-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/theconversation.com/amp/we-analysed-data-from-29-798-clean-ups-around-the-world-to-uncover-some-of-the-worst-litter-hotspots-167280
• Paper "Socioeconomics effects on global hotspots of common debris items on land and the seafloor”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378021001394?via%3Dihub
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Anita and Caz join us to talk about the amazing Volvo Ocean Lovers Festival that they founded - which is happening at Bondi Beach 10-13 March 2022. Anita and Caz were last on the podcast two years ago, in the lead up to the 2020 Ocean Lovers Festival - just before a little thing called Covid forced the cancellation of the festival. But it takes more than a pandemic to stop these two. We talk about the ups and downs of the last two years, and what it takes to help protect the ocean with a big dose of love.

Useful links:

• https://www.oceanloversfestival.com/
• Our previous Ocean Protect Podcast chat "Anita Kolni and Carolyn Grant are ocean love trailblazers" (from March 2020): https://open.spotify.com/episode/72H399cjkHrfb97nKO9gpX?si=b526e075ef6542e1

For further information about Ocean Protect, check us out at www.oceanprotect.com.au

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