Shipping traffic is climbing, especially across a warming Arctic, and every new vessel brings more collision risk and underwater noise for whales. Emily Charry Tissier, ecologist and CEO of Whale Seeker, joins Andrew to explain how quality data can turn that pressure into realistic choices for shipping companies, governments and the people buying the goods on board.

Emily started Whale Seeker in 2018 after a WWF Arctic project showed her how unreliable marine mammal data could be. She calls quality, standardized data the first domino: decisions on shipping lanes, ports, marine protected areas and fisheries all depend on it. That same data is what makes Certified Routes possible, routing ships around whales and sensitive habitat with a measurable drop in strike risk and noise, using vessels that need no retrofits.

The episode also explores why the ocean should be treated as infrastructure. Emily explains how blue bonds, preferential lending, parametric insurance and debt for nature swaps can make the responsible route the profitable one, and why nature that stays off the balance sheet stays invisible. She also shares her vision of a Certified Routes label on everyday products, so shoppers anywhere can vote with their dollar for goods shipped with whales in mind.

Takeaways

• Why quality, standardized marine mammal data is the foundation for every ocean decision
• How Certified Routes gives shipping companies a realistic way to reduce their impact on whales
• What treating the ocean as infrastructure could look like on a national balance sheet
• How blended finance and insurance can move ocean solutions past endless pilot projects
• How consumers can use their purchases to push brands toward responsible shipping

Your research could change how the ocean is protected. If policymakers, funders and the public can't connect with it, it stays in the journal.

In this episode of the Ocean Leaders Podcast, Andrew Lewin sits down with his Pisces Oceans colleague Kirsti Burnett, a marine biologist who went from writing in the formal IMRaD structure to teaching storytelling workshops for scientists. Kirsti shares how a documentary first pulled her into science, how teaching shark awareness dives in St. Martin taught her to know her audience, and how she earned the trust of the Cabo Verde government by shaping her shark research around what mattered most to local communities.

They also get into the real barriers that keep scientists quiet, from fear of being misquoted by media to the discomfort of posting on social media. Kirsti explains how the hero's journey and the And, But, Therefore (ABT) framework help scientists flip the narrative so the audience becomes the hero of the story, while every fact stays intact. You'll hear the story of Roxanne the blue shark, why broad LinkedIn posts underperform, and simple ways to start practicing today.

Want a storytelling workshop for your lab, organization or conference? Reach out to Pisces Oceans through the link in the show notes.

Takeaways

• Why your audience, not your research, should be the hero of your story
• How to use the And, But, Therefore (ABT) structure to build a clear elevator pitch for your work
• How to find the "so what" that makes policymakers, funders and the public care
• Why targeted posts outperform broad ones on platforms like LinkedIn
• Low-pressure ways to start, from family dinners to school and museum talks

Are you interested in a Storytelling Workshop for your organization? Click here:

Humpback whales disappeared from New York Harbor for decades. In 2009, three showed up. Today, more than 500 individual whales have been documented in the New York Bight, and the man who started counting them had no marine biology degree.

In this episode of the Ocean Leaders Podcast, host Andrew Lewin talks with PJ Sieswerda about his father Paul, the founder of Gotham Whale. Paul began as a volunteer at the New England Aquarium in Boston and taught himself everything. He picked up knowledge from mentors like MIT's Doc Edgerton and went on to spend more than 40 years in public aquariums in Boston and New York. Along the way he built cutting-edge exhibits, joined an expedition to Alaska to bring back a walrus, and gave behind-the-scenes tours to kids, teachers and Bobby Orr.

When Paul retired, he didn't slow down. He started out tracking seals from local tour boats and asking the community to send him their sightings. Then the humpbacks returned, thanks to cleaner water and the comeback of menhaden. Paul's sighting records became the New York City humpback whale catalog, and in 2011 he founded Gotham Whale. It is a volunteer-driven, membership-funded organization where citizen scientists, boat partners and head researcher Dr. Danielle Brown turn community sightings into peer-reviewed science and classroom education.

PJ shares what it was like to watch his father's legacy grow, how Gotham Whale is moving forward since Paul's passing in 2023, and why getting out on the water helps him heal. If you lead an ocean project, this story shows what one determined person with deep curiosity and a community behind them can build.

Share your thoughts with us on Spotify or LinkedIn at Pisces Oceans Inc. The Ocean Leaders Podcast is a Pisces Oceans podcast.