Podcast by Seaful | Cal Major
Our Ocean
Bringing to life the Ocean's most pressing and beautiful stories to Deepen Ocean Insight and Empower Ocean Citizenship. Brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean.
Our Ocean
Latest episodes
20 February 2026
The Magic Science Making the Invisible Visible: eDNA
Dr Kat Bruce is a scientist, adventurer and expedition leader, founder of NatureMetrics, and now working for the Protected Areas Foundation. In this episode, we're going on a journey from the depths of the Amazon to the Northwest Passage, via one and a half circumnavigations of the UK in a rowing boat!
We're talking underwater magic with eDNA, or environmental DNA - the incredible scientific research technique being used around the world to monitor biodiversity, by making the invisible visible.
Kat's recommendations:
Book - Savages, by Joe Kane
Film - Ocean with David Attenborough
Other mentions:
Ullapool Sea Savers - thanks to Hunter for his facts about Lumpsuckers!
The Our Ocean podcast is brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean. To donate, please visit our website.
For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook. For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk.
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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11 February 2026
The Ocean Citizens Award - a Fintastic Summer on the West Coast of Scotland
We are delighted to be joined today by Megan Hamill, one of the recipient's of Seaful's inaugaral Ocean Citizens Award in 2025. This monetary award was created with Felix Appelbe, founder of Ocean Ambassadors, to support young people in their journey to becoming Ocean Citizens, and applications for the 2026 award are open until the end of February.
It was a joy to catch up with Megan - an ocean advocate from the Isle of Arran, and hear all about her Fintastic summer on the West Coast of Scotland with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Community of Arran Seabed Trust, and how the courses and experiences the award supported have helped her on her journey in marine conservation.
We hear about Megan's search for cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), and hear about some surprising species which call Scotland's waters home, including a very unassuming apex predator! We also hear about Megan's love for seabirds, and the new islands she'll be journeying to this year.
You can read more about Megan's journey here.
To apply for the Ocean Citizens award (ages 16-25), please head to: https://seaful.org.uk/ocean-citizens-award/
Manx Shearwater sound effect recorded by David Boyle, XC1023582. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/1023582
Learn more about Young Sea Changers Scotland's Turning The Tide Course for 16-25 year olds.
This episode was recorded and edited by Adventurous Audio.
The Our Ocean podcast is brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean. To donate, please visit our website.
For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook. For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk.
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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10 December 2025
Seals, seals, seals - pupping season at St Abb's Head
Welcome back to Our Ocean! We've had a bit of a break, but are delighted to be back at St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve, with the amazing head ranger Ciaran Hatsell and his colleagues, from The National Trust for Scotland, just in time for seal pupping season!
Every year, St Abb's goes through incredible seasonal transformations. We were last here in June (check out our episode 'Seabird Spectacle' if you haven't already!) when the cliffs were lined with noisy seabirds. The cliffs might be empty now, but the beaches are COVERED in newly born grey seal pups.
And, in what we can only imagine is a global podcast first, we name one of the colony's most impressive bulls live on the podcast!
A huge thanks to Ciaran and the National Trust for Scotland; you can learn more about St Abb's Head Nature Reserve here: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/st-abbs-head
Thank you to Isla and the Ullapool Nature Club!
If you find an injured, thin or distressed seal pup outside of a colony, please call the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR): https://bdmlr.org.uk
Seaful's 12 Days Of Christmas silent auction is here: https://uk.givergy.com/seaful/
The Our Ocean podcast is brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean. To donate, please visit our website.
For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook. For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk.
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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08 August 2025
Seagulls - Menace or Marvel?
Seagulls seem to divide opinion more than most wildlife! For some, they're a nostalgic sight and sound of the seaside. For others, they're a nuisance, and even a threat. In this episode, we're diving deep into why these birds, which, perhaps surprisingly, are actually made up of several endangered species, are living in more urban settings, and what can be done to navigate their curious and sometimes challenging ways and live harmoniously alongside them.
We're joined by two seabird experts from the National Trust for Scotland - Senior Seabird Officer Ellie Owen, and St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve Head Ranger, Ciaran Hatsell, for amazing insights into these masters of adaptation. We also hear from The Ullapool Sea Savers' Herring Gull ambassador, Peter, for stories of gulls in his village, where some people are delighted with their presence, and others are calling for drastic measures for their control...
Expect the unexpected in this episode as we bust some myths about these fascinating birds, and ask what we can do to protect them from further declines they're facing in their natural world, and reframe our relationship with them, championing them as the amazing predators they are.
We also have an update for you on the Berwick Bank Wind Farm proposal which we spoke about in depth in our last episode, 'Seabird Spectacle - Guillemot Jumplings'.
The Our Ocean podcast is brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean. To donate, please visit our website.
For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook.
For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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31 July 2025
Seabird Spectacle - Guillemot Jumplings
This is an extra special episode, recorded mid-seabird season at St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve where we are treated to one of nature's most wonderful spectacles - guillemot chicks of only 15 days old taking a leap of faith into the ocean for the first time. The 'Jumplings' can't fly, yet leap off cliffs around the UK for a couple of weeks every year to begin their lives out at sea.
We're guided on our adventure in St Abbs by the Head Ranger, Ciaran Hatsell, who is passionate, inspiring and full of knowledge about birds and nature at large. Overlooking the wild ocean, we discuss some recent developments to protect seabirds' food source, and some proposed developments which would mean disaster for seabirds along the East coast of the UK.
Ciaran also discusses his path into his job as head ranger, and the thrill of working with the incredible seabird team at the National Trust for Scotland.
Say No To Berwick Bank Wind Farm - Scottish Seabird Centre
Excellent pages on the National Trust for Scotland's Website:
St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve
Call for Ministers to Reject Berwick Bank Wind Farm Proposal
Five Things You Can Do To Help Save Scotland's Seabirds
RSPB: The Closure of Sandeel Fisheries
The Our Ocean podcast is brought to you by Seaful, the UK charity dedicated to connecting people to our ocean. To donate, please visit our website.
For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook. For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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17 July 2025
Ocean Witness - Eyes Underwater
Imagine being able to fly through the water, over a magnificent seabed, at depths of up to 200 metres, without even having to get wet! The Ocean Witness report by the charity Open Seas has done exactly that, by sending an ROV, a remote operated vehicle with a camera, down into the depths over 300 times around the coast of Scotland to show us exactly what's out of sight and out of mind.
This episode of Our Ocean is with Phil Taylor from Open Seas. We dive into our ocean's amazing ecosystems, what can be found inside and outside of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and whether the protections given to these MPAs work. We also dive into the shortcomings of the status quo of fisheries management, and what needs to be done to protect our seas.
We look at who and what could benefit from better seabed protection, and hear about Phil's Fantastic Fish Finger Butty of Fisheries Management...
This episode is based in Scotland, but is relevant wherever in the world you're listening. We hope it inspires you to use your voice for better protection of the Ocean, which as we hear in this episode, really does work for nature and people.
Links:
Visit the Open Seas website here for more information on fishing in Scotland, to read the Ocean Witness Report and to sign up for their newsletter. https://www.openseas.org.uk
You can add your name to the Our Seas petition here. https://www.ourseas.scot
The Our Ocean Podcast is brought to you by Seaful - the UK charity connecting people to our ocean. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website, Instagram or Facebook. For questions or suggestions, please email us - podcast@seaful.org.uk
You can connect with The Our Ocean Podcast's host Cal Major through her Website, Instagram or Facebook.
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