This is a reminder that the Making Waves podcast has retired, but have no fear! We combined our Making Waves, Ocean Shorts, and Diving Deeper pods into one NEW podcast called NOAA Ocean. Subscribe in your favorite podcatcher so you never miss an episode. Just search for "NOAA Ocean." If you are looking for an older Making Waves episode, head to oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast to view our archive.

What is ocean noise and what is NOAA doing to reduce this threat in our national marine sanctuaries? Many marine organisms, including marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates, rely on sound and hearing for their survival. Over the last century, increases in human activity within our ocean have led to increasing levels of noise. This increasing amount of noise from human sources is a rising concern for the health and well-being of marine organisms and ecosystems. In this episode, we talk with NOAA marine ecologist Dr. Leila Hatch about her work to better understand the ocean soundscape by developing programs that can establish baselines, detect changes in noise levels, and support the design of methods to reduce noise impacts.

Money does not grow on trees, but it could be growing in our coastal salt marshes and sea grass beds. A team of researchers is working at Waquoit Bay Research Reserve on Cape Cod in Massachusetts on the "Bringing Wetlands to Market" project to study the connections between coastal wetlands, carbon dioxide uptake and storage, and the global carbon trading economy. Wetlands have the potential to serve as valuable assets in carbon trading markets – but only if we protect them, and don't dig up the treasure!

Boaters rely on NOAA's nautical charts for depth measurements so they don't accidentally ground on sandbars or other underwater obstructions. Take three minutes out of your day to hear Captain Shepard Smith of the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson discuss how nautical charts are updated—and how NOAA is using promising new technology (ocean robots!) that will add shallow depths to nautical charts.

Coral reefs are under intense pressure from climate change, pollution, and unsustainable use. So what can we do about it? To answer that question, we need to better understand the main threat to our reefs. Humans.

Alaska—the largest and most remote state in the United States—is filled with wilderness and beauty, and unfortunately with marine debris. With a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined, Alaska finds itself with the greatest concentration of marine debris in our country. In this episode, we learn just how challenging the issue of marine debris can be in the vast wilderness of this state, how the NOAA Marine Debris program is working to solve this problem, and how the key to beating this issue is in the innovation and ingenuity of the community working to address it.

Take a virtual journey to Penobscot Bay, Maine, to see how harbor pilots use U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) data for real-time ocean and weather conditions. This information is critical for safe navigation as pilots carefully move tankers and other vessels often carrying dangerous cargo safely in and out of port. IOOS coastal and marine data (e.g., water temperature, water level, currents, winds, and waves) are collected by many different tools including satellites, buoys, tide gauges, radar stations, and underwater vehicles. Most of the data collected are streamed online and viewable on digital maps for easy access.

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, are developing atomic clocks that are so accurate that the effects of the general theory of relativity come into play. That means if two of these clocks are at slightly different elevations—even a few centimeters—the higher clock runs noticeably faster. In this episode, find out why this is a problem for NIST, how the National Geodetic Survey helped to solve this problem, and how these amazing atomic clocks may someday play an important role in the science of geodesy.

Ocean Today is premiering this 15-minute TRASH TALK special feature for World Ocean Day. It is specially designed to be part of your World Ocean Day festivities and beyond. In addition to the video, we have a pre-recorded 10-minute webinar for educators that provides fun activities that you can organize after the film! A perfect event for museums, zoos, aquariums, learning centers and schools. Enjoy! Please note that this movie is a large file (250 MB).

In this episode, we visit a research station perched at the end of a long pier in Duck, North Carolina, to get a close-up look at the microwave radar water level sensor--a revolutionary step forward in how NOAA measures water levels around the nation.

Join us for an interview with oceanographer Tim Battista about mapping coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. Caribbean.

A NOAA "shipwreck detective" talks about a two-year study to locate and document shipwrecks in Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the surrounding area.

In this episode, we visit a research station perched at the end of a long pier in Duck, North Carolina, to get a close-up look at the microwave radar water level sensor--a revolutionary step forward in how NOAA measures water levels around the nation.

As sea ice continues to shrink in the Arctic, we’re likely to see more shipping, more oil exploration, more tourism, and more fishing. And all of this activity means that in the future, we’ll probably going have to deal with an oil spill in this remote region. So how do we prepare for that? The Coast Guard cutter Healy, a 420-foot-long icebreaker, is now heading north in answer to this question. The mission: an annual exercise called Arctic Shield led by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center. Onboard the Healy, scientists are gearing up to deal with a simulated oil spill in the icy Arctic. To tell us all about Arctic Shield and NOAA’s role in this expedition, we talk to Zachary Winters-Staszak, a spatial data specialist on the mission from the National Ocean Service’s Response and Restoration office.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of many areas in the ocean where marine debris naturally concentrates because of ocean currents. In this episode, an expert from the NOAA Marine Debris Program explains what a garbage patch is and isn't, what we know and don't know, and what we can do about this ocean-sized problem.

This is Making Waves from NOAA's National Ocean Service. Hurricane season runs from June 1 - November 30. You know that powerful winds are destructive and can be deadly during a hurricane. But did you know that the greatest threat to life actually comes from the water -- in the form of storm surge. See for yourself with this video from NOAA's Ocean Today.

Coastal Blue Carbon. Heard of it? A NOAA environmental scientist explains how certain small coastal areas play an outsized role in reducing climate change.

You know about ocean tides, but how much do you know about ocean currents? Watch our three-minute video podcast to learn what puts the motion in the ocean.

Prior to the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Exxon Valdez was the largest spill to ever occur in U.S. coastal waters. In this episode, we talk with NOAA marine biologist Gary Shigenaka to find out how marine life is faring today in Prince William Sound, Alaska. We also look at lessons we might learn from this environmental disaster in light of growing oil exploration and shipping traffic in the Arctic.

How do we use sound to 'see' the sea floor? Our latest podcast explains how sonar works and includes a great visualization that shows how sound data is used to make nautical charts.