The NOAA Ocean Podcast

Connect with ocean experts and explore topics from corals to coastal science with our audio podcast.


Listen to episodes of the new NOAA Ocean podcast here—and subscribe to us in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean."

Print shows congestion of horse-drawn carts and wagons overburdened with merchandise on Dock Street, also handcarts, teamsters and longshoremen, and railroad locomotives and cars for hauling goods from ships to markets, includes many wholesale buildings and a transportation terminal, and the masts of many ships docked along the waterfront.
Ahoy! Top 10 Nautical Phrases Explained

Did you know many phrases that we use today have nautical origins? Lots of these terms derive from the Age of Sail — the period of time between the 16th and 19th centuries when masted ships ruled the seas.

22 Oct 2019
Destruction in Key West, Florida, following Hurricane Irma in September 2017. (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard)
Disaster Preparedness Program

How the National Ocean Service facilitates internal communication, coordination, and preparation for all types of unforeseen disasters.

07 August 2019
a stormy ocean scene
Meteotsunamis

Meteotsunamis occur all over the world — including the Great Lakes — but scientists are just beginning to better detect and understand them.

10 July 2019
an ocean glider
Ocean Gliders

Ocean gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles used to collect valuable ocean data, including information about hurricanes.

31 May 2019
Navigating the NOAA Ship Ferdinand R. Hassler. The ship conducts hydrographic surveys, meaning that it collects data about the shape of the seafloor. This data is used to make nautical charts.
Digital Charts

In our latest podcast, Allison Wittrock, a cartographer with the Office of Coast Survey, tells us about NOAA’s new digital charts.

25 April 2019

All Episodes

Looking for a recent podcast? Start here.

NOAA Ocean Podcast:

  1. The Nautical Origins of 10 Popular Phrases
    23 Oct 2019
  2. NOAA's Disaster Preparedness Program
    7 Aug 2019
  3. Meteotsunamis: State of the Science
    11 Jul 2019
  4. Ocean Gliders: How NOAA uses autonomous technology to help predict hurricane intensity
    30 May 2019
  5. Navigating the Sea is Safer, More Efficient With Digital Charts
    25 Apr 2019
  6. Making it Count
    21 Mar 2019
  7. Lionfish Invasion
    28 Feb 2019
  8. Fa’a Samoa: The Samoan Way (Part One)
    4 Dec 2018
  9. Fa’a Samoa: The Samoan Way (Part Two)
    4 Dec 2018
  10. All About HABS: Uncovering the Mystery of Harmful Algal Blooms
    14 Nov 2018
  11. Remote Control
    24 Oct 2018
  12. Ocean Noise
    29 Aug 2018
  13. Breaking Down Barriers: Natural Infrastructure
    28 Jun 2018
  14. National Ocean Service's Role in Hurricane Prep, Response, and Recovery
    24 May 2018
  15. Motion in the Ocean: Tides and Currents
    26 Apr 2018
  16. Garbage Patches: How Gyres Take Our Trash Out to Sea
    22 Mar 2018
  17. Dealing with Dead Zones: Hypoxia in the Ocean
    22 Feb 2018
  18. Geodesy: The Invisible Backbone of Navigation
    18 Jan 2018
  19. Marine Debris in Alaska
    16 Nov 2017
  20. Reef Resilience
    23 Aug 2017
  21. Ocean Current Surveys 101
    27 Jul 2017
  22. Historical Maps and Charts
    21 Jul 2017
  23. Celebrating 100 Years of NOAA Corps
    25 May 2017
  24. Marine Animal Telemetry
    11 May 2017
  25. Restoration at Industrial Waste Sites
    4 May 2017
  26. Volunteering with our National Marine Sanctuaries
    17 Apr 2017
  27. GPS on Bench Marks
    23 Mar 2017
  28. Picking the Right Spot: Offshore Wind Energy
    1 Mar 2017
  29. Marine Life Counts: The U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observation Network
    19 Jan 2017
  30. Listen up: What you need to know about ocean noise.
    8 Dec 2016
  31. Reef Resilience
    22 Sep 2016
  32. Connecting the Dots: Corals and Humans
    15 Sep 2016
  33. Ocean Economy
    18 Aug 2016
  34. Bringing Wetlands to Market: the Power of Blue Carbon in a Changing Climate
    4 Aug 2016
  35. Microplastics
    30 Jun 2016
  36. Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting
    5 May 2016
  37. Remembering the Titanic
    15 Apr 2016
  38. Living Shorelines
    7 Apr 2016
  39. Connecting the Dots Between Corals and Humans
    24 Mar 2016
  40. Shipwreck Detective
    17 Feb 2016
  41. Alaska: Marine Debris in the Wilderness
    28 Jan 2016
  42. How Invasive Species Are Introduced
    21 Jan 2016
  43. Exploring Hawaii's Coral Reefs
    3 Dec 2015
  44. Marine Debris Movement
    24 Nov 2015
  45. A Healthy Eelgrass Meadow is Restored
    29 Oct 2015
  46. Nuisance Flooding
    22 Oct 2015
  47. Vertical Mapping and Atomic Clocks
    24 Sep 2015
  48. Coral Bleaching
    17 Sep 2015
  49. Hurricane Katrina: 10 Years Later
    27 Aug 2015
  50. Ocean Economy
    25 Jun 2015
NOAA Ocean podcast icon

From corals to coastal science, connect with ocean experts to explore questions about the ocean environment.

Are you looking for our Making Waves, Diving Deeper, or Ocean Shorts podcasts? We combined all three of these podcasts into one. Visit our archive to view our older podcast episodes.

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