Exploring the Unknown (Episode 130)

The Making Waves podcast has retired, but have no fear! We combined our Making Waves, Ocean Shorts, and Diving Deeper pods into one NEW podcast called NOAA Ocean. Subscribe in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean." If you are looking for an older Making Waves episode, head to oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast to view our archive.

The Making Waves podcast has retired, but have no fear! We combined our Making Waves, Ocean Shorts, and Diving Deeper pods into one NEW podcast called NOAA Ocean. Subscribe in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean." If you are looking for an older Making Waves episode, head to oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast to view our archive.

The Making Waves podcast has retired, but have no fear! We combined our Making Waves, Ocean Shorts, and Diving Deeper podcasts into one NEW podcast called NOAA Ocean. Subscribe to the new podcast in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean." If you are looking for an older Making Waves episode, head to oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast to view our archive.

What is ocean noise and what is NOAA doing to reduce this threat in our national marine sanctuaries? Many marine organisms, including marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates, rely on sound and hearing for their survival. Over the last century, increases in human activity within our ocean have led to increasing levels of noise. This increasing amount of noise from human sources is a rising concern for the health and well-being of marine organisms and ecosystems. In this episode, we talk with NOAA marine ecologist Dr. Leila Hatch about her work to better understand the ocean soundscape by developing programs that can establish baselines, detect changes in noise levels, and support the design of methods to reduce noise impacts. Episode permanent link and show notes

Money does not grow on trees, but it could be growing in our coastal salt marshes and sea grass beds. A team of researchers is working at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve on Cape Cod in Massachusetts on the "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project to study the connections between coastal wetlands, carbon dioxide uptake and storage, and the global carbon trading economy. Wetlands have the potential to serve as valuable assets in carbon trading markets – but only if we protect them, and don't dig up the treasure! Episode permanent link and show notes

Coral reefs are under intense pressure from climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use. So what can we do about it? To answer that question, we need to better understand the main threat to our reefs. Humans. Episode permanent link and show notes

Alaska—the largest and most remote state in the United States—is filled with wilderness and beauty, and unfortunately with marine debris. With a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined, Alaska finds itself with the greatest concentration of marine debris in our country. In this episode, we learn just how challenging the issue of marine debris can be in the vast wilderness of this state, how the NOAA Marine Debris program is working to solve this problem, and how the key to beating this issue is in the innovation and ingenuity of the community working to address it. Episode permanent link and show notes

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, are developing atomic clocks that are so accurate that the effects of the general theory of relativity come into play. That means if two of these clocks are at slightly different elevations—even a few centimeters—the higher clock runs noticeably faster. In this episode, find out why this is a problem for NIST, how the National Geodetic Survey helped to solve this problem, and how these amazing atomic clocks may someday play an important role in the science of geodesy. Episode permanent link and show notes

Join us for an interview with oceanographer Tim Battista about mapping coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. Caribbean. Episode permanent link and show notes

A NOAA "shipwreck detective" talks about a two-year study to locate and document shipwrecks in Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the surrounding area. Episode permanent link and show notes