The NOAA Ocean Podcast

Connect with ocean experts and explore topics from corals to coastal science with our audio podcast.


Listen to episodes of the new NOAA Ocean podcast here—and subscribe to us in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean."

Aerial view of the island of Culebra.
Protecting Culebra's Coral Reefs

Healthy coral reefs are amongst the most biologically diverse, culturally significant, and economically valuable ecosystems on Earth. In this episode, we speak with Lisa Vandiver, a Marine Habitat Restoration Specialist with NOAA’s Restoration Center and Rob Ferguson, a watershed management specialist with NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, to learn about how NOAA works alongside local partners on the island of Culebra to protect and restore the coral reef ecosystems and reduce the impacts of pollution.

8 Dec 2020
Container ships at the Port of Oakland.
Precision Marine Navigation

Julia Powell and John Kelley from the Office of Coast Survey share how the team is working to foster innovation, improve navigation safety, aid in more efficient coastal route planning, and help mariners make informed decisions as they navigate our nation's waterways.

30 Oct 2020
Amy Uhrin and Ed Johnson with mussel samples on boat
The Microplastic-Mussel Connection: Part Two

In this episode, we continue our conversation with two NOAA scientists about a study that looked at using mussels as "biomonitors" to measure microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes.

30 September 2020
Left image: Kimani Kimbrough, NOAA physical scientist with the Mussel Watch program, recovers a mooring with caged mussels near the seawall at Jones Island wastewater treatment plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Right image: Shelly Tomlinson, NOAA research oceanographer, and Beau Bramer, Northeast regional manager with NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, prepare to dive for mussels in Milwaukee Bay, Lake Michigan.
The Microplastic-Mussel Connection: Part One

Hear about a NOAA-funded study that asked an interesting question: what if mussels could be used to learn more about microplastic pollution in our waterways? Spoiler alert: the study didn’t turn out quite as expected.

30 September 2020
a diver amongst coral reefs
From Diving to Data: Close-up with Coral Research

We speak with Shay Viehman, NOAA research ecologist, to learn how NOAA divers turn the data they collect from underwater missions into usable summaries that help scientists study and protect U.S. coral reef ecosystems.

27 August 2020

All Episodes

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NOAA Ocean Podcast:

  1. Protecting Culebra's Coral Reefs
    8 Dec 2020
  2. Precision Marine Navigation
    29 Oct 2020
  3. The Microplastic-Mussel Connection: Part Two
    30 Sep 2020
  4. The Microplastic-Mussel Connection: Part One
    30 Sep 2020
  5. From Diving to Data: Close-up with Coral Research
    27 Aug 2020
  6. Breaking Down Barriers: Natural Infrastructure
    30 Jul 2020
  7. Turning the Tide: D-Day from an Oceanographer's Perspective
    24 Jun 2020
  8. Marine Life Counts: The U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
    28 May 2020
  9. Education Resources
    24 Apr 2020
  10. Understanding Gravity
    19 Mar 2020
  11. Bringing Wetlands to Market
    20 Feb 2020
  12. The Nurdle Patrol: Citizen Scientists Fight Pollution, One Pellet at a Time
    23 Jan 2020
  13. After a Hurricane Hits: NOAA’s Emergency Response Aerial Imagery
    17 Dec 2019
  14. The Nautical Origins of 10 Popular Phrases
    23 Oct 2019
  15. NOAA's Disaster Preparedness Program
    7 Aug 2019
  16. Meteotsunamis: State of the Science
    11 Jul 2019
  17. Ocean Gliders: How NOAA uses autonomous technology to help predict hurricane intensity
    30 May 2019
  18. Navigating the Sea is Safer, More Efficient With Digital Charts
    25 Apr 2019
  19. Making it Count
    21 Mar 2019
  20. Lionfish Invasion
    28 Feb 2019
  21. Fa’a Samoa: The Samoan Way (Part One)
    4 Dec 2018
  22. Fa’a Samoa: The Samoan Way (Part Two)
    4 Dec 2018
  23. All About HABS: Uncovering the Mystery of Harmful Algal Blooms
    14 Nov 2018
  24. Remote Control
    24 Oct 2018
  25. Ocean Noise
    29 Aug 2018
  26. Breaking Down Barriers: Natural Infrastructure
    28 Jun 2018
  27. National Ocean Service's Role in Hurricane Prep, Response, and Recovery
    24 May 2018
  28. Motion in the Ocean: Tides and Currents
    26 Apr 2018
  29. Garbage Patches: How Gyres Take Our Trash Out to Sea
    22 Mar 2018
  30. Dealing with Dead Zones: Hypoxia in the Ocean
    22 Feb 2018
  31. Geodesy: The Invisible Backbone of Navigation
    18 Jan 2018
  32. Marine Debris in Alaska
    16 Nov 2017
  33. Reef Resilience
    23 Aug 2017
  34. Ocean Current Surveys 101
    27 Jul 2017
  35. Historical Maps and Charts
    21 Jul 2017
  36. Celebrating 100 Years of NOAA Corps
    25 May 2017
  37. Marine Animal Telemetry
    11 May 2017
  38. Restoration at Industrial Waste Sites
    4 May 2017
  39. Volunteering with our National Marine Sanctuaries
    17 Apr 2017
  40. GPS on Bench Marks
    23 Mar 2017
  41. Picking the Right Spot: Offshore Wind Energy
    1 Mar 2017
  42. Marine Life Counts: The U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
    19 Jan 2017
  43. Listen up: What you need to know about ocean noise.
    8 Dec 2016
  44. Reef Resilience
    22 Sep 2016
  45. Connecting the Dots: Corals and Humans
    15 Sep 2016
  46. Ocean Economy
    18 Aug 2016
  47. Bringing Wetlands to Market: the Power of Blue Carbon in a Changing Climate
    4 Aug 2016
  48. Microplastics
    30 Jun 2016
  49. Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting
    5 May 2016
  50. Remembering the Titanic
    15 Apr 2016
  51. Living Shorelines
    7 Apr 2016
  52. Connecting the Dots Between Corals and Humans
    24 Mar 2016
  53. Shipwreck Detective
    17 Feb 2016
  54. Alaska: Marine Debris in the Wilderness
    28 Jan 2016
  55. How Invasive Species Are Introduced
    21 Jan 2016
  56. Exploring Hawaii's Coral Reefs
    3 Dec 2015
  57. Marine Debris Movement
    24 Nov 2015
  58. A Healthy Eelgrass Meadow is Restored
    29 Oct 2015
  59. Nuisance Flooding
    22 Oct 2015
  60. Vertical Mapping and Atomic Clocks
    24 Sep 2015
  61. Coral Bleaching
    17 Sep 2015
  62. Hurricane Katrina: 10 Years Later
    27 Aug 2015
  63. Ocean Economy
    25 Jun 2015
  64. Hypoxia
    18 Jun 2015
  65. NOAA PORTS
    14 May 2015
  66. GPS on Bench Marks
    16 Apr 2015
  67. Exploring the Unknown in the Caribbean
    1 Apr 2015
  68. Tsunamis
    26 Mar 2015
  69. Four Corners
    19 Mar 2015
  70. Invasive Species
    26 Feb 2015
  71. Coastal Blue Carbon
    12 Feb 2015
  72. Shipwreck Detectives in California
    15 Jan 2015
  73. Coral Bleaching
    1 Dec 2014
  74. Arctic Shield
    1 Oct 2014
  75. Great Pacific Garbage Patch
    26 Jun 2014
  76. Coastal Blue Carbon
    8 May 2014
  77. The Exxon Valdez, 25 Years Later
    21 Mar 2014
  78. Tides and Currents
    18 Mar 2014
  79. The Intracoastal Waterway
    20 Feb 2014
  80. Invasive Lionfish
    6 Feb 2014
  81. Planning Ocean Uses
    30 Jan 2014
  82. Restoring Natural Resources
    16 Jan 2014
NOAA Ocean podcast icon

From corals to coastal science, connect with ocean experts to explore questions about the ocean environment.

Are you looking for our Making Waves, Diving Deeper, or Ocean Shorts podcasts? We combined all three of these podcasts into one. Visit our archive to view links to audio files of our older podcast episodes.

We also offer full archives with transcripts of our Making Waves and Diving Deeper episodes:

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