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Ocean Startups Are Changing Conservation Faster Than Science Alone · How To Protect The Ocean

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  The next breakthrough in ocean
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  conservation might not
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  come from a university.
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  It might come from a startup. Not because
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  science isn't important,
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  because startups are built to
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  take ideas and actually put them into the
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  real world. And right now,
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  that's the part we're missing.
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  This is the How to Protect the Ocean
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  podcast where we break down ocean
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  science, policy, and
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  solutions so that you can actually
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  understand what's working
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  and how to be a part of it. So
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  hit that follow button right now so you
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  don't miss tomorrow's
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  episode. We're covering
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  ocean businesses, businesses that are out
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  to scale solutions for
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  the ocean all week. At the
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  end of the week on Friday, we have an
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  interview with EarthX CEO
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  Peter Semmick talking about the
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  EarthX conference where you're going to
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  find a lot of ocean
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  startups, a lot of ocean businesses
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  that are already in practice that are
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  looking to find solutions.
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  So check it out on Friday and
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  don't forget to follow so you don't miss
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  any other episode. For
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  decades, ocean conservation
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  has been driven by governments, by NGOs,
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  by universities, and
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  those institutions are very
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  critical to the process. They give a
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  science, they shape policy, but they are
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  not built for speed.
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  They are built for accuracy, and that
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  creates a gap because
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  discovering a solution is very
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  different to scaling one for protection.
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  That's where startups come in. They take
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  ideas and ask a different question.
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  Can this work in the real world and can
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  it scale? If you're new to the show and
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  you want to understand
• 1:29
  how ocean solutions actually scale, then
• 1:32
  make sure that you follow how
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  to protect the ocean podcast
• 1:35
  so you don't miss any of the future
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  episodes. So hit that follow button right
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  now. All right, let's take
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  coral Vita for an example. Traditionally,
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  coral restoration
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  happens underwater. It's slow,
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  it's expensive, and it struggles to keep
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  up with warming oceans. Coral Vita
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  changed the model. They grow
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  corals on land and in controlled
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  environments. That allows them to grow
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  corals 50 times faster,
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  select heat tolerant corals, and scale
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  production far beyond traditional
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  methods. Then they transplant
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  those corals back onto reefs. But here's
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  where it really matters. They built a
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  business. They partner
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  with tourism operators
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  who depend on the reefs, governments
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  protecting coastlines, and insurance
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  companies that recognize
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  reefs reduce storm damage, which I've
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  talked about so many times
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  on this podcast. This turns
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  coral restoration into something that can
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  scale globally, not just one project.
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  It's an actual service.
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  Let's talk carbon removal in the ocean.
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  There's a company called Running Tide.
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  They're working on
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  ocean-based carbon removal.
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  The idea? Grow kelp that absorbs carbon.
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  Then sink it deep in the ocean, locking
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  that carbon away long term.
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  This falls under ocean carbon dioxide
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  removal. And according to the IPCC, we
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  likely need carbon
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  removal to meet climate targets.
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  But this approach is controversial.
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  Because the ocean is complex, we don't
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  fully understand the
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  long term impact. Still,
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  it's getting funded because it fits into
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  carbon markets. And when
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  something fits and when something
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  connects to markets, it has a chance to
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  scale. Now, I'm not saying
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  that this is going to work. I'm
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  not saying that this is probably good for
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  the ocean. It may not be,
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  but at least we're developing
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  these ideas. If there were pilot studies
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  that were stuck in academia this entire
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  time, a lot of these
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  companies may not be able to get this
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  going and find out if it actually works
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  or if it doesn't work. Now, of course,
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  there's always advantages and
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  disadvantages to this approach and I
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  fully understand those,
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  but this is just one idea
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  where we can really think about, hey,
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  does actually this carbon sinking and
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  carbon removal actually work when we
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  think about it at this scale and at this
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  with this ability to use kelp to do that.
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  Think about the video that I
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  put up this week on Sargasm
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  that probably came out today as you're
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  going to listen to this. Sargasm is an
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  algae that grows really big.
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  It just basically suppresses beaches and
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  it just smothers beaches in
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  high tourist areas. It stinks.
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  People don't like it. It can affect
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  people with breathing problems and it
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  takes a long time to remove and is hard
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  to inexpensive to remove.
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  Imagine being able to sink something like
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  Sargasm to be able to remove carbon.
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  That's something that's a key
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  identifier in carbon removal. Whether it
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  will work or not, whether
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  it's good for the ocean or not,
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  time will tell and these experiments with
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  businesses as partnerships will be able
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  to help. Startups bring something
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  conservation has struggled with.
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  Speed. They test faster. They adapt
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  faster and they scale faster. They don't
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  necessarily wait till
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  you have peer reviewed publications that
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  are done two years down the road that are
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  published two years down the road.
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  They want to know six months from now
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  whether this idea will work. If it
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  doesn't, they're going
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  to move on. If it works,
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  they're going to move forward. If it's
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  good for the ocean, they might move
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  forward. If it's bad for the ocean,
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  they may move forward too. That's where
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  we have to be careful with
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  some of these startups. However,
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  the point is they move fast and that
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  matters because the ocean is changing
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  fast. We are seeing
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  marine heat waves, rapid
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  biodiversity loss, overfishing pressures,
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  increasing pollution,
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  solutions that need to move as
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  solutions need to move as quickly, just
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  as quickly as these
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  problems are hitting the ocean.
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  And when the startups find something that
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  works, they can expand
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  globally in years, not decades.
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  But let's be clear. Not every setup
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  succeeds. Some fail,
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  some over promise and some create
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  unintended consequences. Like just think
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  about anything that has to do with deep
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  sea mining right now.
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  There is a big push to do deep sea
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  mining, but we have no
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  idea the effects on the ocean.
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  This is why science still matters and
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  regulation still matters. This isn't
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  about replacing traditional
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  conservation. It's about complimenting it
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  with speed, with funding and with a
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  different mindset. Because right now
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  we don't just need ideas.
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  We need ideas that actually spread and we
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  need to implement those
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  ideas as quickly as possible.
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  And that's the episode for today.
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  If you like this type of information, you
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  want to know more about businesses that
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  find solutions and you
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  have a business that has
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  an ocean solution or you know of one that
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  has a notion solution,
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  let us know in the comments by going to
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  speak up for blue dot com forward slash
• 6:14
  feedback that speak up for blue dot com
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  forward slash feedback. I want to hear
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  what you have to say either by voicemail
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  or you can type it in.
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  I would love to hear what you have to say
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  because this is the
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  start of a conversation
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  and I would love for you to continue that
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  with me and with others. And I
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  know with podcasting on audio
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  it's really difficult to do a comment. If
• 6:33
  you're on Spotify and you want to
• 6:34
  comment, please do so.
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  But if you're not and you want to comment
• 6:38
  and you want to have feedback, please go
• 6:40
  to speak up for blue dot
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  com forward slash feedback
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  because you know what the next big
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  breakthrough may not be it
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  may not come from a paper,
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  but it might just come from a company
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  trying to solve a problem
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  at scale and I want to find what those
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  those businesses are what that company is
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  and I want to tell it I want to talk to
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  them on the podcast at some point. So I
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  want to thank you so much for joining me
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  on today's episode of the
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  how to protect the ocean
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  podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lew and
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  have a great day. We'll talk to you next
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  time and happy conservation.