The Ocean Impact Podcast

Did you know the industry standard coating for marine vessels, antifouling paint, is toxic? Often containing solvents, biocides to prevent growth, and designed to self-erode when organisms eventually take hold. With the commercial shipping fleet growing to over 90,000 vessels in 2022, this global problem is hidden below the water. But one German startup is bringing it to the surface. We chatted to Christina Linke, Co-founder and CEO of Clean Ocean Coatings, about their innovative biocide-free coating, and the challenges involved in disrupting this unwavering industry.

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/christina-linke

→ Visit their Website: https://www.cleanoceancoatings.com/en/clean-ocean-coatings

→ Follow them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleanoceancoatings/?originalSubdomain=de

→ Watch their Pitch Video: https://youtu.be/Lyix0UlkHV4

Wet trade slurry (eg. cement slurry) is generated on building sites daily. Angus Hudson, an experienced builder and founder of SLURRYTUB, has seen first-hand the issues and difficulties around the wash-up and disposal of slurry. Including shortcuts that can result in chemical-laden slurry getting into waterways. Angus tells us how SLURRYTUB’s innovative - but deceptively simple - solution makes job site cleanup quick, easy, cost-effective, and better for the ocean. Their filtering system has been used by everyone from bricklayers to tilers, landscapers to plumbers, and even contestants on The Block!

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/angus-hudson

→ SLURRYTUB Website: https://www.slurrytub.com/

→ SLURRYTUB’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SLURRYTUB/

→ SLURRYTUB’s ’No Wucking Slurries’ Music Video: https://youtu.be/HHq3Aegi94k

Not only do coral reefs promote biodiversity, provide vital ecosystems for life underwater, and benefit economies, they also provide natural coastal protection. But coastal erosion is getting worse, with climate change impacting reef health and contributing to sea level rise, stronger waves, and more severe storms. Luckily, ocean impact startup CCell has developed a solution to grow digitised living reefs through a process called mineral accretion. CEO Dr Will Bateman tells us how CCell is helping combat the impacts of coastal erosion.

How do you monitor catch on fishing vessels at sea? Managing catch, bycatch, and adherence to laws & regulations is often done via camera footage from boats being manually reviewed. An archaic process that isn’t scalable, is expensive, and can be inaccessible in many countries around the world. But early-stage Canadian startup OnDeck Fisheries AI is trying to change this, by automating sustainable fisheries monitoring with artificial intelligence in a way that is both scalable and accessible.

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/alexander-dungate

→ OnDeck’s Website: https://www.ondeck.fish/

→ Careers with OnDeck: https://www.ondeck.fish/copy-of-careers

→ OnDeck’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ondeck-fisheries-ai/

Around 700,000 microfibres are released doing an average load of washing. Mocja Zupan (Founder and CEO of PlanetCare) compares this to an average household dumping one plastic bag per week into the ocean, just by doing laundry! It’s a big problem; after all, microplastics have been found in the Mariana Trench, in our food, and even in our blood. But PlanetCare is on a mission to stop microfibres from your washing finding their way into places they shouldn’t be. And they want other ocean impact entrepreneurs to follow suit.

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/mojca-zupan

→ PlanetCare Website: https://planetcare.org/

→ PlanetCare Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planetcare.solutions/

→ Plastic Soup Foundation: https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/

→ Study on the release of synthetic fibres from washing machines: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X16307639

What if we could predict how the removal, reefing, or installation of an offshore energy structure could impact fisheries? That’s where spatial planning tool FishLAT by Blue Latitudes comes in. With the decommissioning of thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms imminent, and renewables like offshore wind on the way in, co-founder Amber Sparks tells us how their web-based platform can provide data for financially and environmentally sustainable decision-making.

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/amber-sparks

→ FishLAT Website: https://www.fishlat.com/why-we-do-it

→ Blue Latitudes Website: https://www.rig2reefexploration.org/

→ Research mentioned in intro: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723016339?via%3Dihub

Did you know that biofouling - the growth of organisms on ship and boat hulls - can contribute to a 20-55% increase in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per vessel? An increased carbon footprint is just one of the consequences of this pesky problem. Welcome to the first episode of our Pitchfest 2022 series with Hullbot CEO and co-founder Tom Loefler. Hullbot builds robots for healthy oceans and is working on creating the world’s most sophisticated underwater drone.

→ Shownotes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast/tom-loefler

→ Hullbot Website: https://hullbot.com/

→ Hullbot LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hullbot/posts

If the ocean was a country, it would be the 8th largest economy in the world! Martin Koehring, head of Economist Impact’s World Oceans Initiative, joins us for part two of our conversation. Picking up from SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth, Martin discusses how the export value alone of the blue economy is 3% of global GDP, and how the ocean is a key solution to achieving each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

→ Episode show notes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/blog/ocean-un-sustainable-development-goals

→ “The Ocean and the UN Sustainable Development Goals” Feature: https://impact.economist.com/ocean/ocean-sustainable-development-goals/

→ World Oceans Initiative: https://ocean.economist.com

→ Follow Economist Impact on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/economist-impact/

Did you know that UN SDG 14: Life Below Water is the most underfunded? Or that the economic value of a great whale in the ocean is $3 million US dollars? Martin Koehring, head of Economist Impact’s World Oceans Initiative, joins us to chat about how the ocean and emerging blue economy is a solution to achieving all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

→ Episode show notes

→ World Oceans Initiative: https://ocean.economist.com

→ “The Ocean and the UN Sustainable Development Goals” Feature: https://impact.economist.com/ocean/ocean-sustainable-development-goals/

→ Follow Economist Impact on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/economist-impact/

Dr Tony Worby is the Director of the Planet Portfolio and Flourishing Oceans at Minderoo Foundation and is a global leader in advancing positive actions to improve ocean health.

In this far-reaching conversation, Tony shares fascinating insights into his career and passion for protecting Planet Ocean with a focus on the remarkable work Minderoo Foundation is doing to support their bold mission: ‘to return the oceans to a flourishing state’. We learn about the incredible breadth of work being supported by Minderoo Foundation and the ways in which Tony believes Minderoo can make its biggest impact, and fast.

OIO recently announced a 3-year partnership with Minderoo Foundation to build the team and scale our impact. The partnership will empower OIO to double its previous goal of accelerating 100 ocean impact startups and entrepreneurs in five years, with the organisation now targeting a total of 200 startups and entrepreneurs supported and accelerated by 2027.

We thank Tony Worby for his time in sitting down for this podcast and for all the work Minderoo Foundation is doing to support improvements to ocean health.

→ Connect with Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAAM4H8sBsA-PSRM1hWR7tm8wpRNHeIcW_gQ

→ Follow Minderoo Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minderoofoundation

→ Visit the Minderoo / Flourishing Ocean Website: https://www.minderoo.org/flourishing-oceans/news/partnership-to-accelerate-ocean-health-startups-and-entrepreneurs

→ Get the show notes: https://www.ocean-impact.org/podcast