Bottom Trawling Undermines Food Security

This episode is a special recording from Oceanographic's Roundtable panel event.

Bottom trawling undermines local food security, nutrition and livelihoods in coastal communities, according to a new global study.

The destructive fishing practice involves towing nets to catch fish and other marine species living on or close to the seabed. It accounts for over a quarter of total global marine fish catches, and a commonly sold narrative is that the practice is critical to feed a growing population.

However, this new report finds that bottom trawling reduces the availability and accessibility of fish to coastal communities and diverts good-quality, nutritious fish to global markets.

GHOST FORESTS: Are our trees the next to fall victim of sea-level rise?

The lush and bountiful forests dotted along the United States’s eastern coastline are slowly being replaced by ‘ghost forests’, recognisable by clusters of greying trunks, and skeletal dead trees – and researchers have said that these forests may hold the key to understanding how coastal forest ecosystems respond to climate change.

Ocean Photographer of the Year 2025 lands in the UK

For first time in its history, the Ocean Photographer of the Year exhibition has come to a venue in the UK. In this Friday special episode of the Ocean News Podcast, Community Editor chats with exhibition curator, Nick Ball, and the ocean photographers and 2025 finalists, Kaushik Subramaniam and Jenny Stock.

NEW Pollution Study Raises Human Health Concerns

For decades, the "plastic crisis" was defined by what we could see: ghost nets, stranded whales, and islands of floating debris. But a groundbreaking global study, published this month in Nature Geoscience, has shifted the lens to the invisible.
In this special episode, we dive into a massive meta-analysis of over 2,300 seawater samples that reveals a startling reality: there is virtually no corner of our ocean untouched by human chemical fingerprints. From synthetic fragrances and UV filters to "forever chemicals" (PFAS) and pharmaceuticals, the ocean has become a global repository for our industrial output.
This episode is a recording of an Oceanographic Roundtable online panel event.

“Every key climate indicator is FLASHING RED” – The UN’s startling climate report

The Earth’s climate is more out of balance than at any time in observed history. That is the stark conclusion of the World Meteorological Organisation’s State of the Global Climate report for 2025 – a document that confirms the unprecedented speed and scale of planetary change now underway with consequences that will outlast every living generation.

⁠Access the full report here.

A pathway for the future: Cutting the Ropes to Save the whales

Climate change has been driving whales closer to shore and into the lines of California's crab fishermen. Now, a technology born from top secret Navy operations offers a fruitful solution for both

In this episode of the Ocean News Podcast, editorial assistant Eva Cahill sits down with Dr Geoff Shester, Oceana’s Senior Scientist and Fishery Innovation Director, to discuss this technology.

We can UNLOCK Green Energy Sector WITHOUT Deep-Sea Mining

Deep-sea or critical ecosystems on land do not need to be sacrificed to limit global warming to 1.5°C, according to a new report from Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS), in collaboration with Greenpeace International.

MYSTERY Marine Die-off Triggers Health CRISIS…But What Can WE Do?

Coastal communities in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, have been facing a growing environmental and public-health crisis since December 2025. Thousands of fish and other marine organisms have washed ashore dead, while hundreds of residents – many of them children – have fallen ill. Four months later, authorities have yet to identify the cause.

⁠A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support relief efforts.

CHILE protects ONE MILLION square kilometres of its OCEAN

Once fully implemented, the designation will bring the total fully protected area in the region to 946,571km², making it the third largest fully protected marine area in the world, behind the Ross Sea and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.