A special 4-minute reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate, first-hand knowledge of storms, weather, and life on and by the sea. Read for you by World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill. Happy Holidays.

Christmas at Sea is an evocative seasonal poem by Robert Louis Stevenson published in 1888, five years after his beloved novel, Treasure Island, was published. Christmas at Sea appears in an anthology of poems compiled by the Radio4 program Poetry Please: The Nation’s Best-Loved Poems, with a forward by Roger McGough, published in 2014 by Faber & Faber Books. Christmas at Sea is in the public domain.

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week on a new 5-minute episode of World Ocean Radio we're discussing the word "Hydromancy", its meaning and signs, water in its many forms, and its implication for our future. Hydromancy is an ancient form of divination, an invitation to explore the depths of still water and its ability of reveal hidden truths.

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 years
More than 760 episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week we are reporting on COP30 (the 30th Conference of the Parties) hosted in Belem, Brazil. The annual gathering is a response to the challenges of climate change; there were wins and losses, enthusiasm and disappointment, and various outcomes and strategies for the future that will be explored in future editions of World Ocean Radio.

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 years
More than 760 episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week on World Ocean Radio we are reflecting on a time and place no longer familiar: traditions and accepted norms unrecognized, histories forgotten, futures uncertain. How do we recapture standards and beliefs that can contribute to a changing civilization and rapidly changing climate? Are there opportunities for new ways of thinking and acting that are attuned to the challenges we face? We're discussing this and more. Join us. 

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 years
More than 760 episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

Devastating weather and water events abound worldwide, causing havoc in ports, waterfronts, and elsewhere. These are neither new nor are they going away any time soon. How do we rebuild and plan a response for a future that works, even in the face of increasingly unpredictable climate?

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week Peter Neill, founder of W2O and host of World Ocean Radio, argues that wars, particularly those in the Middle East, are all about the water: rivers, access to the sea: water is the source of life, and of conflict. We all need it in equal measure every day to survive, to thrive, to sustain our nations, cities, agriculture, and ourselves. 

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 years
More than 760 episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

The most substantial by-product of human consumption is waste, thus far omitted on balance sheets and in calculation of individual and gross national product. Waste comes in many forms: polluted water, poisoned land, energy lost, habitat destroyed, industrial waste, food discarded, planned obsolescence, even recycling. What remains? The ocean. While under stress by the same forces, it contains the necessary supply of source and resource if we have the courage to sustain it.

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 Years, 760+ Episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week on World Ocean Radio, our host Peter Neill is thinking about the word "solastalgia", described as a deep grief over changing landscapes that were once familiar; feeling ‘homesick’ while still being at home, due to rapid alterations to the environment; the stress from experiencing change and loss in the face of rapid, disruptive change. Peter suggests that solastalgia may offer the opposite effects of hopelessness, melancholy, and despair, providing the conditions for commitment, engagement, dedication, optimism, and invention.

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 Years, 760+ Episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the September 2025 news that Morocco has become the 60th nation to ratify the High Seas Treaty, a two-decades long process to establish and protect a vast complex of biodiversity in international waters. This is a major milestone and a huge step forward, uniting many rules promoted by many UN agencies under a single rubric and framework for coherent protection. 

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 Years, 760+ Episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org

Nature is a significant factor on the global balance sheet, and the cost of nature loss affects many key economic sectors. Denial or exclusion of nature's true value is flawed economics on the profit and loss of earth's natural resources and systems. This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing a Ceres publication entitled, "Nature's Price Tag: The Economic Cost of Nature Lost" that explores the decline in ecosystem services used by five nature loss drivers. And we argue that the larger ecosystem service perspective must be included in the true cost analysis of most everything we use, make, and consume. 

About World Ocean Radio
World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.

World Ocean Radio
15 Years, 760+ Episodes
Ocean is climate
Climate is ocean
The sea connects all things

World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, advocacy, education, global ocean issues, marine science, policy, challenges, and solutions. Hosted by Peter Neill, Founder of W2O. Learn more at worldoceanobservatory.org