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The Ocean Sensors We Almost Lost · How To Protect The Ocean

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  One of the most important ocean monitoring systems in the world was
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  nearly pulled out of the ocean and most people had no idea it was happening.
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  Then something unexpected happened.
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  Scientists pushed back.
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  The National Academy stepped in and the decision was reversed.
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  So what happened?
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  And why does it matter far beyond one scientific program?
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  This is the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, your weekday ocean news update.
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  If you care about staying informed on the ocean every weekday, hit that follow
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  button right now on your podcast app so you don't miss tomorrow's story.
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  Today, we're answering one simple question.
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  Why was the Ocean Observatories Initiative almost dismantled, and
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  what does its survival tell us about the future of ocean science?
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  So let's just talk about the basics.
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  What happened?
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  The Ocean Observatories Initiative, or OOI, is essentially a giant
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  network of scientific instruments spread throughout the ocean.
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  Think of it like a collection of weather stations.
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  Instead of monitoring conditions on land, these stations
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  continuously monitor the ocean.
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  They measure things like temperature, oxygen, currents, ocean chemistry, marine
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  life, and climate-related changes.
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  Really, really important stuff.
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  The system operates around the clock collecting data every day of the year.
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  Researchers use the information to understand everything from marine
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  heatwaves to ecosystem changes and long-term climate trends.
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  And if you think about it, with a super El Niño knocking on our door, this
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  information is gonna be more than ever.
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  Earlier this year, the US National Science Foundation announced plans
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  to significantly reduce parts of the OOI, of the observation system.
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  The proposal included removing infrastructure from
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  several observing arrays.
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  As a scientist, not that I use the data, which is freely available,
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  this was an alarming situation.
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  Not because a single instrument would disappear, but because long-term
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  data records would be interrupted.
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  Here's the thing you have to realize when we talk about long-term data.
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  Long-term data, it's important to keep it consistent, to make sure that you
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  are getting the data that comes in on a regular basis, whether that's every
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  minute, whether it's every hour, whether it's every day, it does not matter.
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  You wanna make it consistent.
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  Unfortunately, with these long-term data systems, we get interruptions.
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  We get interruptions, gaps in data, usually because a
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  government body gets involved.
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  They say, "Hey, you know what?
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  This actually costs too much money to cut." It's an easy thing to cut
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  because, like, they can say, "Well, we have all this data already.
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  We don't have to worry about it." But the problem is, is when you have a
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  consistent data set, you end up having something that's really important.
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  Because once a continuous data set is broken, you can never go back
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  and recreate the missing years.
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  Imagine deleting several chapters from a book and then trying to
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  understand the entire story.
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  That's really what it comes down to.
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  That's what losing long-term monitoring data can feel like.
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  The ocean doesn't just stop changing while we're not watching.
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  That just doesn't happen.
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  The ocean is constantly changing.
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  And to understand, especially in today's world, especially when we're
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  gonna see big changes this year, it's really important to be able to predict
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  those what's gonna happen after those changes, but monitor those changes.
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  And here's why the story became much bigger than a funding discussion.
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  Ocean observations are the foundation of ocean management.
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  We often hear about protecting fisheries, protecting marine heatwaves, understanding
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  climate change, forecasting extreme weather, managing coastal systems.
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  All those decisions depend on data.
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  Without observations, we're making decisions with less information.
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  That's why ocean scientists reacted strongly to this news.
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  But the biggest turning point came when the National Academies
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  released a public statement.
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  According to the statement, the National Science Foundation had inaccurately
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  cited a National Academies report when explaining the proposed reductions.
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  That is huge.
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  The National Academies are one of the most respected scientific advisory
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  organizations in the United States.
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  When they publicly clarify that their findings are being
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  misinterpreted, people pay attention.
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  Suddenly, it wasn't about budgets.
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  It became a decision about scientific evidence and how decisions are justified.
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  Scientists began speaking out.
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  Universities raised concern.
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  Ocean stakeholders got involved.
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  Lawmakers from both political parties started asking questions.
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  And momentum built quickly.
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  Just like momentum's building on this podcast, if you are getting value from
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  these quick ocean news updates, follow this show so you never miss an episode.
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  Let's get back to the story.
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  Now, what makes this story particularly interesting is that it demonstrates
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  how invisible ocean science can be.
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  Most people will never see these instruments.
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  Like, let's be honest, we're never gonna know what these observatories look like
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  unless you go out and see a picture.
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  You actually have to seek this out.
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  But they're not for tourist attractions.
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  They're not famous.
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  They're quietly sitting there in the ocean collecting information
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  every second of every day.
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  And let's be honest, like, a lot of the times, like, this baseline
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  data is boring to a lot of people.
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  But when you put it in a database and you start analyzing it from day shifts
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  to hourly shifts, to whatever that might that data, whatever that timescale
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  is, it becomes really important in protecting people, in protecting
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  our coastlines, in protecting all of our assets that we build on land.
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  Because we see with the powerful storms that can come in, how to predict
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  those, and what it does to saving lives and saving just infrastructure.
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  So here's what happens.
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  Here's the situation with what's happening next.
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  The good news is that the National Science Foundation ultimately
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  reversed course, which is great.
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  The agency announced it would halt further equipment removal, but
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  it had already started, so some of the damage was already done.
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  Just off a misinterpretation.
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  Just think about that.
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  It would continue operations and maintenance of everything.
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  It would redeploy equipment that had already been removed, which cost even more
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  money, and it would gather additional stakeholder input before moving forward.
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  For now, the OOI remains operational,
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  but the larger conversation is far from over.
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  Ocean observing systems are expensive.
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  Budgets are always under pressure.
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  For the last two years, it got… or even before this, '24 and '25, it got
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  approved by Congress, but we just don't know what's gonna happen in the future.
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  And let's be honest, we know in Project 2025 it was slated to be cut.
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  And many scientific programs face similar challenges.
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  What this episode highlights is the importance of understanding
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  what these systems actually do.
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  It's easy to support protecting whales because we love whales.
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  It's easy to support protecting coral reefs 'cause we all
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  know what coral reefs are.
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  It's often hard to explain why we should invest in a network of sensors
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  sitting hundreds of kilometers offshore that we don't get to see or we
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  don't understand how it benefits us.
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  But without those sensors, our ability to understand ocean change becomes weaker.
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  And if we don't understand what's happening in the ocean, it becomes
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  much harder to protect it effectively.
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  That's the lesson here.
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  The observatory was saved, which is great, but the broader challenge of maintaining
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  long-term ocean science remains.
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  Protecting the ocean isn't about protecting species.
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  It's about protecting the scientific systems that help us understand
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  what's happening beneath the surface.
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  Because if we don't have that information, there's nothing to
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  protect because we don't know what's trending downward until it's too late.
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  And if we stop understanding it, protecting it becomes much harder.
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  That's it for today's episode.
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  I want to bring you this news.
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  It is good news, but it doesn't mean that we are done.
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  We still have to push.
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  We still have to speak up, because if we don't speak up for the ocean,
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  the ocean will just disappear on us.
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  Not disappear in terms of just disappear and evaporate.
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  What I'm saying is the data will disappear, the protections will
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  disappear, and we are gonna be in a lot more trouble if we don't stand up
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  to these cuts, these unnecessary cuts that are done on misinterpretation
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  and lack of understanding of how important the ocean is
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  in the face of, like, development and trying to build a better America or
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  whatever you wanna call it in the future.
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  We have to protect the ocean, and to protect the ocean, we have
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  to understand it, and we have to gather the baseline data.
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  And we need to fund it, and that's what the US has been amazing at doing in the
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  past, is funding these ocean systems.
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  This program started in 2016, and it's still going strong.
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  We need to make sure that we can help each other and help the people in the States,
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  and the people in the United States, you need to speak up when this stuff happens,
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  'cause we see that it becomes reversed.
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  We see that even though it was misinterpreted, when people speak
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  up and people put pressure, whether they're scientists, whether they're
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  policymakers, whether they're citizens, people get to know.
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  And the way you get to know is you get to know on this podcast.
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  You follow creators.
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  You follow this podcast.
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  You follow creators like Carissa Cabrera, who is always on top of this
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  type of stuff, and others who are going around and make sure that you are up to
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  date on what's happening in the ocean.
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  So follow this podcast.
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  Make sure you're up to date on what's happening.
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  I'll try and bring you as much information as I can when we move forward.
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  That's it for today's episode.
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  If you wanna get ahold of me, you can do so by going into the socials,
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  looking at my social links, DM me, whatever you might wanna do.
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  And if you wanna support the show, you can go to speakupforblue.com/patreon.
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  That's speakupforblue.com/patreon.
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  Any contributions, it allows me to continue to do the
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  stuff that I want to do.
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  Not only do I bring you this podcast.
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  I help bring you the Beyond Jaws podcast, of course.
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  I bring you newsletters, I bring you social posts.
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  I bring you a YouTube channel material.
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  I do this all for you and because I love it, and your support helps.
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  So go to speakupforblue.com/patreon, and I wanna thank you so much for
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  joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.
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  Have a great day.
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  We'll talk to you next time, and happy conservation.