Insurance is everywhere, established to transfer risk or to compensate for loss. Deep-sea mining has attracted much attention lately, as we look to offshore exploration and extraction for energy and mineral resources. As the UN International Seabed Authority deliberates standards and regulations related to drilling into the ocean floor, insurers of…

The maritime industry is a major contributor to our global systems: our economies, security, and stability. More than 80% of all international trade and transport moves across the ocean: shipbuilding, port operations, shipping, cruise lines, offshore energy, pipelines, salvage, communications, cables, insurance, ferries, exploration and science. Th…

As we discuss resiliency, adaptation, and mitigation of climate and ocean, we must also invent--not to merely rearrange the elements of an old plan, but to imaging and consider some things new and different. If the ocean movement is to embrace the change required to respond to challenges worldwide, we must imaging new ways forward, confident in our…

It has been nearly twenty years since the Ocean Literacy Principles and Framework were first adopted by classroom educators to promote the ocean as a central focus for climate, water, food, health, exploration, science, and more. Today it has been incorporated into the agenda of the UN IOC; it seems Ocean Literacy is riding a new wave of interest a…

Eustacy is a word used to describe worldwide changes of sea level. This is a new word for us: even though it seems we live in a eustatic world. We're using this newly-discovered word to distill the five areas of our existence where the ocean matters most: fresh water, the ocean-fresh water continuum, energy, food, health, and exchange. About World …

This week on World Ocean Radio: synopsis of a recent report by the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission entitled "Call to All Voices of the Ocean – Consultation of Civil Society in Preparation of the Next United Nations Ocean Conference" addressing issues and providing recommendations and specific actions related to ocean climate, science,…

In this episode of World Ocean Radio we take listeners to the shore, to be reminded of the importance of silence, solitude and renewal in our lives, and of the healing power of the ocean--or water in any form--that is there for us, if and when we choose to stop and listen. World Ocean Radio offers five-minute weekly insights into ocean science, adv…

This week we are discussing two technological innovations—both bright ideas that could have huge impacts for useful, sustainable change for the future. The first is WaterCube, a machine that pulls vapor from the air and condenses it into liquid form for household use and disaster relief; the second is Sway, a farmed seaweed application designed to …

As we review the state of climate change challenge and response, it becomes clear we are not succeeding. Is it possible to craft a new economic system that values natural resource sustainability over depletion of those resources? Can we conceive a new economics, a forward-directed system of financial valuation and exchange based on the asset value …

Plastic. It is ubiquitous. It is everywhere in our lives, yet we do not possess the cycle or recycle to continue production in a sustainable or environmentally friendly way. If offsets and recycling do not provide the answer, what does? About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated…

How old is water? Where on earth is water found? How is it circulated, cycled, and recycled? We know where water is distributed on the planet down to the fraction of a percentage. We know that water is finite in volume and its utility is constant. What happens when we pollute water? What happens when there is no water? We discuss this and more this…

World Ocean Observatory is ever in search of new systems that convert knowledge into action, especially as they relate to ocean education and communication. Here on World Ocean Radio we often discuss the concepts and principles of ocean literacy, and the ways in which they can be distilled into learning opportunities for educators and students ever…

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

"The state of the ocean is not good." So states Vidar Helgesen in the forward to the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) State of the Ocean Report that was released in May. This week on World Ocean Radio we are summarizing the findings. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays avai…

On June 8th each year we come together as a global community to celebrate World Ocean Day, a date set aside to recognize our relationship with the ocean. Public awareness of ocean issues in the United States barely advances year on year, despite consistent efforts by conservation, ocean, and other environmental organizations like World Ocean Observ…

We have launched a Substack to share a plan for specific action and public participation. In this two-episode arch we reintroduce listeners to RESCUE: a 33-part series outlining a plan for specific action and public participation, providing a blueprint for how the ocean can save civilization. In the series we cover ocean topics related to Science, …

We have launched a Substack to share a plan for specific action and public participation. This week and next on World Ocean Radio, we will reintroduce listeners to RESCUE: a 33-part series outlining a plan for specific action and public participation, providing a blueprint for how the ocean can save civilization. In the series we cover ocean topics…

After a recent visit to Japan, an island nation, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill ponders, what if, as in Japan, we applied values individually, locally, and nationally to our purchases, foodways, institutions, public relations, our life choices? Look from the East, look from the West: are we not all islanders? About World Ocean Radio World Ocean…

Bio-regions on Earth are organized into types, then realms, and are further distinguished and mapped for planning, strategizing, developing, and as a tool for protection of the planet. A major trouble with bio-regional mapping is that it neglects nearly 83 percent of the ocean–beyond marine protected areas–leaving the high seas and deep sea unaddre…

This week on World Ocean Radio we're defining new ways to consider profit as a return on investment--not as an enemy of change but as a catalyst for a sustainable strategy for the future. An effective sustainability strategy must include the true asset cost of natural resources and the post-production costs of downstream effects to include pollutio…

This week on World Ocean Radio we're sharing some methods and means to make small and large changes that can have effects on the climate and sustainability challenges that are caused in large part by the consumer choices we make every day. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndica…

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing a recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal to attend the Economist Ocean Summit. One such conversation we participated in was on the topic of regulation--those systems and structures that frame best practices and are designed to control abuse. Regulation is conflicting and contradictory, especially when most r…

A nocturne is a short musical composition: dreamy, romantic, suggestive of the night, a passage from one place to the next. This week we're asking: What comes next for our collective energy and focus? What it is that will get us safely from this place of climate crisis and uncertainty to another place of reinvention, newly-conceived solutions, and …

What are the five areas of our collective existence on earth where the ocean matters most? If we are looking for a context to drive motivation and action, we have in our view the necessary clear focus through these absolutes--water, energy, food, health, and exchange--that can guide us toward a sustainable future, with the ocean at our center. A we…

In business, as in life, there is a balance sheet, a statement of assets, profit and loss, income and expense, showing whether our accounts are in balance, or not. In a consumption and production driven society, we must understand the asset value, balance and imbalance of our planet's natural resources: coal, oil, gas, minerals, water, and food: th…

40% of the planet is used for farming and livestock, often degraded by unsustainable or destructive practices. Coupled with coastal, wetland and reclaimed land development in the name of urban expansion, we are fast-approaching a tipping point wherein infrastructure exceeds demand. What to do? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of the past? Or …

Seafood is a world staple, under siege by increased consumption and over-fishing. Aquaculture is the necessary alternative, yet is a polarizing issue in coastal communities. What are we to do? This week we explore two Maine-based successes in aquaculture that are building local supply chains, increasing resilience in rural communities, promoting en…

"We are not blind to the overall problem, and if we were in doubt, recent climate-explained events, near and far, should open our eyes more widely. With climate conditions constantly in the news, public awareness must follow," says Peter Neill, director of the World Ocean Observatory. This week on World Ocean Radio we wrap up a two-part series with…

In this episode and the next, World Ocean Radio reports on the status quo, business-as-usual, tunnel vision conclusions at COP28 in Dubai, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, December 2023. While many millions of dollars and intentions were pledged toward solutions, the focus and associated response was too narrow and inadequate to address the defi…

Devastating weather and water events abound worldwide. Rain, flooding, strong winds, extreme high tides, coastal erosion and inundation have caused havoc in ports and on waterfronts. These events are neither new nor are they going away any time soon. While we will continue to rebuild and revive, the time is now to plan a response as complicated as …

This week we are celebrating our 700th episode of World Ocean Radio--5-minute reflections featured as podcast and interstitial radio syndicate for 14 years. From these ongoing observations have come four books and continuous contribution toward a strategy to communicate the importance of healthy climate and ocean, a succession of examples, emphasis…

At each year's end, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill reads "At The Fishhouses" by Elizabeth Bishop. This poem, a perennial favorite, was chosen not only for its relevance for the New Year, but also because it distills years of Bishop's seaside meditations and evokes the clarity of meaning contained in personal encounters with the world ocean. Abo…

This holiday season on World Ocean Radio we return with a special reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate knowledge of nor'westers... Merry Christmas to all from the World Ocean Observatory. Christmas at Sea A poem by Robert Louis Stevenson…

In part three of this 3-part series, we continue to explore the recent publication related to marine biomimetics and the deep sea, identifying the seven broad categories of biomimetic design, discussing each with examples of application, technological invention, and as effective solution models for response to negative human intervention and climat…

In these three episodes of World Ocean Radio we are exploring a recent publication entitled “A Forgotten Element in the Blue Economy: Marine Biomimetics and Inspiration from the Deep Sea,” authored by Robert Blasiak from the Stockholm Resilience Center in Sweden. The article identifies seven broad categories of biomimetic design: adhesion, anti-fou…

Over the next few editions of World Ocean Radio we will be discussing a recent publication entitled “A Forgotten Element in the Blue Economy: Marine Biomimetics and Inspiration from the Deep Sea,” authored by Robert Blasiak from the Stockholm Resilience Center in Sweden. The article identifies seven broad categories of biomimetic design: adhesion, …

This week on World Ocean Radio are two forward-looking government-proposed initiatives that offer opportunities for progress in climate policy, investment, resiliency and sustainability. The first is Bridgetown 2.0, proposed by the Prime Minister of Barbados, to urge UN member states to consider an ambitious finance-driven program of climate-change…

We are aware of the key role played by insurance, more so as we face increasing events of extreme weather destruction. Government agencies are signaling policy and coverage shifts, and there is a growing realization that existing policies and programs are not adequate to the new realities. Insurance is fundamental yet largely invisible until it is …

This week on World Ocean Radio we're talking about the megaphonics of ocean communications. How do we as communicators break through? How do we create messaging that resonates and reaches the millions of citizens whose lives are so dependent on the ocean’s bounty? We highlight two ocean heroes, Dr. Sylvia Earle and Sir David Attenborough, whose qui…

This week on World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill talks about the power of storytelling and the vast catalog of tales of adventure, sailors, song, battle, Captain's logs, letters home, and more that tell the stories of our ocean culture and civilization. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Oc…

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing a topic close to our home waters in Maine: the dispute between the lobster fishery and environmentalists over gear modification and the entanglement of migrating right whales. And we highlight the Maine Coast Fisherman's Association who recently addressed the US House of Representatives to discuss ame…

This week on World Ocean Radio we wrap up the 33-part RESCUE series with a a checklist of steps and questions for a practical, personal plan and strategy to embrace the transformational change required to sustain the deteriorating world ocean. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio…

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the means to accelerate the urgent response required to visualize, plan, and implement for a new ocean future. ETHOS is defined as the spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations." About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and…

In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill reflects on a landscape of special importance to him on the coast of Iceland, and the ways that the experience of visiting it for the first time shaped his future and his dedication to sharing the meaning of the ocean with others, and to its contributions for the health and welfare of us all. Do…

This week on the RESCUE series we're continuing our discussion of the water cycle and the ways it defines our cultural identity from global to local. We are surrounded by evidence of our cultural ocean: we see it at all shores both fresh and salt, we see it the location of our settlements, in our bridges and dams, in fishing vessels and practices, …

We are nearing the end of the RESCUE series. This week, in its 30th edition, we're talking about water: the well-spring of world ocean health and the essential natural system that sustains us all, thus its protection and sustainability are the key strategy for RESCUE. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and …

We are nearing the end of the 33-part RESCUE series. This week we turn our attention to the young people around the world that are approaching outdated conventions with resilience and resolve. Thousands upon thousands of youth activists are having their voices heard and their calls to action heeded. We must reinforce their resolve, their commitment…

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a highlight of the World Ocean Explorer virtual aquarium project of the W2O, an innovative tool by which to present responsible science, innovative education, and a unique virtual experience freely accessible to all. For further information, to promote and support, please visit worldoceanexplo…

This week on World Ocean Radio we continue the RESCUE series with recommendations to further protect the ocean--by building ocean literacy into every level of education and action around the world. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of oce…

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a shift from suggestions for change to analysis and observation of those things that are missing from the equation--namely ocean education and communication. And we assert that the need for ocean literacy has never been more important, and that we must consider ocean understanding as the key f…