Radio Program

Our regular Science and the SeaTM radio program presents marine science topics in an engaging two-minute story format. Our script writers gather ideas for the radio program from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute's researchers and from our very popular college class, Introduction to Oceanography, which we teach to hundreds of non-science majors at The University of Texas at Austin every year. Our radio programs are distributed at to commercial and public radio stations across the country.

February 26, 2012

Just about everything at the top of the ocean will eventually find its way to the bottom. But just how long the trip will take varies from ocean to ocean, and even season to season.

Most of the material that falls through the oceans is small -- grains of dust that have blown off the land, dead microscopic organisms, and the waste products of small animals. Some falls as single bits, but some of it clumps together, forming small flecks known as marine snow.

February 18, 2012

It turns out that you don’t really need the Internet for a song to go viral. It happens every year with humpback whales. A new song starts off the coast of Australia and within a year it’s raced across much of the Pacific Ocean -- transmitted from whale to whale.

February 11, 2012

The massive earthquake that shook Japan in March of 2011 created a tsunami that killed thousands. The tsunami was so powerful, in fact, that its effects were felt around the globe. When it reached Antarctica, it split an ice shelf that had been stable since at least 1965, creating two icebergs as big as islands.

February 5, 2012

Every decade or two, some of the biggest coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans come under attack. Like monsters from a sci-fi movie, waves of giant creatures swarm over the reefs, leaving behind dead skeletons. And so far, scientists aren’t sure just what causes these attacks.

January 29, 2012

If you’re looking for a can’t-miss fishing spot, it’s hard to beat the coastal waters of California and Peru. Thanks to a “flip” in the top layers of the Pacific Ocean, they’re some of the most productive fishing grounds in the world.

January 22, 2012

A steady breeze across a still pond or lake creates some obvious ripples, as it drags the water along with it. The effect isn’t as easy to see on the ocean, but it’s there nonetheless. In fact, the wind can move so much water that it can cause the layers of the ocean to flip over -- an effect known as upwelling.

January 15, 2012

The birds that fill museum display cases may be silent, but they can tell researchers a lot about themselves and about their environment. In fact, they may be good resources for learning about changes in pollution and its effect on the birds themselves.

In 2011, for example, a team of researchers found that an endangered species of albatross has been ingesting a lot more of an especially toxic form of mercury since World War II.

January 7, 2012

Great “rivers” of water flow through the oceans -- currents that can be miles wide and hundreds of feet thick. Plotting their motions helps scientists learn how the oceans transport heat, minerals, and nutrients; how they interact with land; how they affect global climate, and much more.

There are a couple of main techniques for measuring the speeds of these currents. One is to go with the flow. The other is to sit still and let the flow go by.

January 1, 2012

If you drop a chunk of solid lead into a pool of liquid lead, the solid chunk sinks to the bottom like -- well, like a chunk of lead. But if you drop a chunk of ice into a glass of water, it bobs to the surface like a cork. The difference makes water a freak of nature. It’s one of the few substances that’s less dense in its solid form than its liquid form.

Pure water is densest at a temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. As it gets warmer, its molecules need more space to spread out. So an even gallon of hot water weighs a bit less than a gallon of cold water.

December 25, 2011

On a solid surface, a penguin looks anything but graceful. Once it slides, dives, or flops into the water, though, it’s a completely different story -- the penguin soars through the water as gracefully as any of its kin soar through the air. In fact, you might say that the penguin is “flying” through the water.

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