Absolutely appalled by footage of manatees drinking contaminated upwellings from shallow sewage wells in their habitat. This isn’t just pollution—it’s cruelty, and a failure to protect fragile Florida Keys waters. Sign the petition and force regulators to act.👇 www.friendsofthelowerkeys.org/petition

📢 The U.S. government is looking to allow deep-sea mining in U.S. waters near the Mariana Trench – risking one of the most fragile and least understood ecosystems in the world. But YOUR VOICE matters in the approval process, so speak up! 👉 https://oceana.ly/4jjFqYw

Hope can spark the work—but it can’t be the work. Our new post takes up the challenge @ayanaeliza.bsky.social threw down for all of us: move past hope as a feeling and into strategy, leverage, and pressure. Hope lights the match. What we do next decides the future. #OceanHoptimism

Picking out a real seal in a lineup is harder than you think. 🦭 Good thing we’ve hired a professional. Join us Jan 22 with Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement at The Marine Mammal Center, to learn how experts spot the real thing—and why it matters when seals and sea lions need help.

If seals and sea lions could talk, they’d probably say “see you Jan 22.” 🦭 An evening of wild stories, real science, and the human effort behind marine mammal rescue. Equal parts heart, humor, and hope. Free, open, and very worth your night. www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date

Worth revisiting this uncomfortable thought experiment: Ghost Reefs isn’t about loss someday, it’s about choices now. What we normalize, delay, or call ‘too hard’ is how living reefs quietly become historical artifacts. The future is still being decided. #OceanHoptimism

This is one of the wildest deep-sea mining stories to me. Paleodictyon is a 500-million-year-old trace fossil from an unknown organism. In the last 50 years, we've found their honeycomb traces on the seafloor. There is a living organism that has been doing its thing for half a billion years.

Once again, for the people in the back: this isn’t a one-off. It’s a preview. King tides plus heavier rain mean routine flooding where dry streets used to be. And no—more Venezuelan oil won’t help this situation. This is the future we’re rehearsing. #OceanHoptimism #ClimateRealityHits #FutureIsNow

So much history just vanished. Mare Island was the first U.S. Pacific naval base, building and repairing ships for 140+ years and shaping our Bay Area maritime identity. Now its dry dock closes, laying off decades of skilled workers and shelving a living piece of our heritage. #OceanHoptimism

It's never too early to plan ahead 📆! Join us on April 1st (6-7pm) at the Coos History Museum & Maritime Collections for a presentation with Elakha's Board President, Bob Bailey. www.ijpr.org/podcast/the-... #seaotters #coosbay #oregoncoast #oregon

We had to Google what & where Sark is—a tiny Channel Island off Normandy that’s car-free and beautiful. Residents want to safeguard its rich seas, limiting harmful trawling and boosting sustainable fishing & blue tourism by formally declaring their waters as a "Highly Protected" MPA. #OceanHoptimism

Here’s a fix to celebrate: Big Bay Area conservation win—77 acres of Hayward shoreline and marsh now permanently protected and tied into the Bay Trail. This boosts habitat for migratory birds, supports climate-resilient restoration work, and locks in public access for the long haul. #OceanHoptimism

Bay Area birds are disappearing—not from mystery, but from pressure. Wetlands lost to development, climate change reshaping food and timing, pollution, and urban hazards all add up. The fix is known: protect habitat, restore marshes, cut emissions, design cities birds can survive. #OceanHoptimism

Today, many of us in the United States hang our heads in shame. Not because we doubt our values—but because our leadership once again failed to live up to them. To the global community watching, weary of chaos and cruelty dressed up as strength: you deserve better. So do we.

Rescue isn’t just about animals—it’s about people choosing to care, again and again. Join The Marine Mammal Center’s Adam Ratner on Jan 22 to explore how marine mammal rehab & protection became a 50-year act of defiance, science, and compassion. This is what showing up for the ocean looks like.

Call your representatives to voice opposition. Then do 1 more vital thing: protect your mental health. Our opposition to the illegal, amoral upheaval in Venezuela by the U.S. stands. So does the toll this takes on our minds. In a war-weary world, guarding mental health isn’t optional. It’s survival.

How is hope like a Bundt cake? 🍰 Holiday gifts + maybe one too many spiked eggnogs led to a meditation on vessels, scale, and why hope needs structure to take shape. We’ll be unpacking this next week. Stay tuned. #OceanHoptimism #Bundt

Coral reefs have a daily “heartbeat.” New research shows reefs change nearby microbes hour by hour. So what? Those microbes run nutrient cycling and food webs. When reefs are stressed, this rhythm breaks—an early warning that reef health, and ocean balance, are slipping. #OceanHoptimism #CoralReefs

King tide waters in our neighborhood are 2.7 feet above normal. This isn’t a projection—it’s a preview. Every delay locks this future in deeper: flooded streets, stressed marshes, lost buffers. Demand climate action now, while choices still matter. #OceanHoptimism #ClimateAction

Important look ahead from an industry expert: Beer in 2026 is in a structural reset. Survival now hinges on relevance, not nostalgia. The brief rise of THC drinks showed how fast “everyone loves beer” can be disrupted when culture and regulation shift. Nothing is guaranteed anymore. #BskyBeer

2026 doesn’t need louder takes. It needs practiced defiance. Not the flashy kind. The daily, relational, stubborn kind that refuses despair and keeps building anyway. Here’s our roadmap for staying defiant—together—this year. #OceanHoptimism #ResilientOptimism #DefiancePracticed

Yet another data point on the “stakeholder problem” we wrote about recently. Too often conservation invites Indigenous communities to speak, but not to decide. That’s participation without power. Without shared authority, conservation keeps repeating colonial patterns. #OceanHoptimism

Local monk seal demonstrates advanced knowledge of thermodynamics, tourism behavior, and the value of arriving early. Still did not pay resort fees.

The ocean’s smallest life forms do outsized work. New research shows even the most common marine bacteria adapt to where they live—shaping how oceans absorb carbon, recycle nutrients, and respond to climate change. Tiny shifts, planetary consequences. #OceanHoptimism

Happy New Year! For the New Year’s resolution-seeking crowd, one simple shift w/ real impact: add more plant-based proteins to your plate. It’s good for your health, & it eases pressure on a planet strained by industrial meat production. Small changes can generate big ripple effects. #OceanHoptimism

Tonight’s vibe: comfort-watching stories about rebellion, chosen families, and toppling empires… on a platform owned by one. 🍿✨ Nothing says late-stage capitalism like streaming resistance from a vertically integrated corporate Death Star. Sleep well, revolutionaries.

If you think you have something more important to do on Jan 22, you’ll need to explain it to this face. 🦭 This is ocean care up close: worried whiskers, expert hands, & science doing its quiet work. Join Adam Ratner & The Marine Mammal Center for the stories behind moments like this. #OceanHoptimism

Ghost of climate-future just rolled through the Bay — king tides + storm surge flooding streets the Chronicle says are a new normal as seas rise. Will we act before the next haunting? 🌊👻 #BayArea #KingTides #SeaLevelRise #ClimateFuture #CoastalFlooding #ActNow #OceanHoptimism

Ocean Hoptimism is starting 2026 with a bark—and a purpose. 🦭 Seals and sea lions grab our attention because they live where our choices meet the ocean. When they struggle, it’s never just about them. It’s about the system we share. #OceanHoptimism #MarineMammals

Defiance, practiced together. As this year closes, we reflect on anger that kept our standards intact, community chosen over isolation, and the decision to keep building when despair felt easier. The work continues—not quietly, not alone. #OceanHoptimism

We’re back in 2026 and ready to seal-abrate. 🦭 We’re not lion: On Jan 22, Ocean Hoptimism returns and invites you to haul out, lend an ear to some serious bark, and flip your perspective with craft beer and deeply harbor-ing truths. A night that’s fully pinnip-approved. #OceanHoptimism #Pinnipuns

Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) -- one of our favorite expert commentaries of 2025 https://therevelator.org/ghost-reefs/

Anyone else today years old when you found out an electric eel’s “butt” is located… [checks notes]… under its chin? ⚡🐟 Ocean fun fact unlocked. Please process responsibly. #OceanHoptimism

The powers that be want despair to settle in, to whisper that nothing matters and you are powerless. Don’t believe it. Your voice still carries weight. Use it now for the ocean, the communities that depend on it, and their living cultural ties. You have 16 days to make a difference.

In this season of renewal, as we muster fresh energy, it’s worth revisiting this deep look at burnout among environmental advocates—and why caring for ourselves sustains the long game we’re all in. #OceanHoptimism #MentalHealth

Utterly beautimous! Deep sea siphonophore observed in Argentina’s Mar del Plata Canyon; Credit: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute

Some of the most important ocean stories don’t come from charts or headlines, but from lived encounters at the edge of care, crisis, and recovery. On Jan 22, we’re going “Behind the Bark” to explore what those moments teach us about ocean health—and our role in what comes next. 🌊 🦭 #OceanHoptimism

Hope rising under the waves: Dozens of juvenile California sunflower stars — once nearly wiped out by a deadly disease — were successfully released in Monterey Bay. These voracious urchin predators help kelp forests recover, restoring habitat, carbon storage, fish nurseries, and coastal resilience.

Kristina Maria Gjerde stood at the ocean’s frontier—melding law, science & diplomacy to defend the high seas and secure the High Seas Treaty. Her tireless vision expanded protection for biodiversity beyond borders. We honor her legacy of courage and care. 💙🌊 #OceanHero #Conservation #OceanHoptimism

Nature reminds us resilience isn’t always about planting more — it’s about giving ecosystems room to breathe and empowering local leadership to protect what’s already there. From forests regenerating under community care to oceans healing where people lead, recovery is real. 🌱🌊 #OceanHoptimism

The Arctic isn’t just melting—it’s slipping through a legal gap. Sea ice regulates Earth’s climate, reflects heat, shapes ecosystems, & sustains Indigenous lifeways. As it vanishes, shipping and extraction surge, without rules to protect what keeps the planet cool. 🧊🌍 #ClimateCrisis #OceanHoptimism

Palo Alto’s first-of-its-kind “living levee” uses native plants, layered soils & treated wastewater to create a nature-based coastal defense that grows with rising seas, filters pollutants, restores marsh habitat & offers a scalable alternative to hard seawalls.  #SeaLevelRise #OceanHoptimism

Happy Boxing Day to all who celebrate boxfish.

✨ However you mark the season—eggnog or Chinese food, kente cloth or candlelight, gathering with others or welcoming the solstice sun—we wish you a holiday filled with peace, love, rest, and resilient hope. May the light return gently. ✨

This holiday, sit with a question most conservation avoids: who really decides? Our new post traces how “stakeholder” language shapes power—from reefs to deep-sea mining—and why outcomes hinge on authorship, not consultation. A reflective, unsettling, necessary read. Like and share! #OceanHoptimism

🎄 in the deep sea

In SW Madagascar, Vezo fishers face climate stress, reef loss & industrial pressure. For 20+ years @blueventures.bsky.social has supported locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), rebuilding reefs and helping diversify livelihoods. Even with help, life is hard as the ocean’s bounty keeps shrinking.

More pinniped news (this time hopeful): Endangered Hawaiian monk seal pups are responding well to an H5N1 bird flu vaccine trial at Ke Kai Ola, with no negative side effects so far. The trial could pave the way for wider protection against a virus that has devastated other marine mammals.

Sea lions vs salmon isn’t a new crisis. It’s a familiar conservation tension: a predator recovers, a prey species doesn’t, and the conflict gets framed as animal vs animal—when the real issue is a system we’ve already broken. 🌊 #OceanHoptimism