Our Ocean

Everest to Antarctica - A Life of Adventure with Mollie Hughes

Mollie Hughes is a world-record adventurer who has summited Everest twice and skied solo to the South Pole, all of which she writes about in her brilliant book, Breathe. Mollie then returned to her original love - the ocean - to write Blue Scotland - a guide to ocean adventures in the country she is delighted to call home. In this episode, we dip into the mindset and resilience required of Mollie's extreme expeditions, but also talk about having fun in the sea. Having been coasteering together with Mollie's company, Ocean Vertical, Cal and Mollie discuss the joy of just playing in the water, and how that can create deep connections and opportunities for education and ocean citizenship. Huge thanks to Mollie for sharing her wisdom and joy, and to Ocean Vertical [https://www.oceanvertical.com/] for opening up a new form of ocean exploration to us in Coasteering! You can learn more about Mollie through her website [https://molliehughes.co.uk/], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/molliejhughes/?hl=en-gb] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/molliehugheseverest/?locale=en_GB]! You can find her books here: Breathe [https://birlinn.co.uk/product/breathe/] Blue Scotland [https://birlinn.co.uk/product/blue-scotland-2/] 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 [https://seaful.org.uk/donate/]. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website [www.seaful.org.uk], Instagram [www.instagram.com/seafulcharity] or Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/seafulcharityuk]. 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 [www.calmajor.com], Instagram [www.instagram.com/cal_major] or Facebook [www.facebook.com/calmajorocean].

How can we make Marine Protection fair? Just Transitions and the Equitable Use of Our Seas

What is a 'Just Transition'? It's a term that gets banded about a lot when talking about protecting areas of the ocean from certain types of destructive fishing. In fact, one of the demands of the Our Seas coalition, who we heard from in last week's episode, is 'The return of a modern seaward limit on bottom-towed fishing, via a just transition'. Although the science shows that protecting our ocean, in particular fragile habitats, from overexploitation is essential for the recovery of fish stocks, and by extension to support local fishing fleets, there may well be people who fish in those areas currently who are displaced. How can transitioning to a better future for our seas be done in a way that is fair, who has the right to have a say, and what does the 'equitable use of our seas' actually mean. We're delighted to be joined by Blue Marine Foundation [https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/]'s Joe Richards, to guide us through this nuanced subject with empathy and insight. You can learn more about the Our Seas coalition, and sign the petition, here: Our Seas need your help - ask your politician to protect at least 30% [https://ourseasscotland.eaction.org.uk/Our-Seas-Need-Your-Help] Huge thanks to Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation [https://hief.scot/] for supporting this series. 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 [https://seaful.org.uk/donate/]. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website [www.seaful.org.uk], Instagram [www.instagram.com/seafulcharity] or Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/seafulcharityuk]. 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 [www.calmajor.com], Instagram [www.instagram.com/cal_major] or Facebook [www.facebook.com/calmajorocean].

The Our Seas Coalition - More Protection, More Fish, More Jobs

This episode is full of hope. 165 organisations and over 15,000 people stand together in Scotland for better protection of its inshore waters from the most damaging forms of fishing. These people are from different backgrounds, sectors and walks of life, but they are all demanding the same thing from the Scottish government, in the name of a thriving ocean. This is the Our Seas coalition, of which Seaful is a member. We are delighted to share the stories of several other members from an event in Holyrood, Scottish parliament, in June 2025. We'll hear from fishermen, NGOs, community groups, businesses, MSPs and children as to why this matters to them. To learn more about the Our Seas coalition, head to ourseas.scot [https://www.ourseas.scot/] Add your voice here [https://ourseasscotland.eaction.org.uk/bring-back-the-fish] to the call to protect at least 30% of Scotland's inshore seabed, the fragile cradle of life for our ocean. 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 [https://seaful.org.uk/donate/]. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website [www.seaful.org.uk], Instagram [www.instagram.com/seafulcharity] or Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/seafulcharityuk]. 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 [www.calmajor.com], Instagram [www.instagram.com/cal_major] or Facebook [www.facebook.com/calmajorocean].

The Mad Scientist of Electric Boats - sailing For One Ocean

Wayne Peters is a self proclaimed 'Mad Scientist of Electric Boats', and his passion for creating cleaner sailing, in consideration and harmony with the very ocean which brings him so much joy, is both inspiring and infectious. It was a pleasure to chat with Wayne on a sunny beach in North Devon in September 2025, to reminisce about an incredible challenge he took undertook to race the first electric boat in the infamous Fastnet race. Wayne takes us on a journey through his beautiful, connecting ocean adventures, and we hope you're as inspired to experience and protect our ocean as we are after listening to our his stories. More information about For One Ocean - an Adventure Sailing Team here [https://foroneocean.org/home]. 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 [https://seaful.org.uk/donate/]. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website [www.seaful.org.uk], Instagram [www.instagram.com/seafulcharity] or Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/seafulcharityuk]. 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 [www.calmajor.com], Instagram [www.instagram.com/cal_major] or Facebook [www.facebook.com/calmajorocean].

The astounding power of Youth Advocacy - with Young Sea Changers Scotland

Youth Advocacy - what, why, when, where and how? This episode dives deep into young voices, and the positive impact, in sometimes surprising ways, that this supportive organisation, Young Sea Changers Scotland [https://www.youthforseas.org/], is having both on marine policy, and on the young people involved. What a pleasure to speak to Alan Munro, Issy Jeffrey and Louis Macmillan - to hear about their journeys into giving a voice to our ocean, and you might be pleased to hear that this doesn't just belong in parliament buildings or involve writing to elected representatives! Here are the links to some of the things we mentioned: Youth Manifesto For Scotland's Seas [https://www.youthforseas.org/youth-manifesto] Youth Ocean Action Fund [https://www.youthforseas.org/action-fund] Scottish Elections Youth Climate Hustings [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scottish-election-youth-climate-husting-tickets-1983782380502] Marine Policy Jargon Buster [https://www.youthforseas.org/toolkits](and other resources) Our Seas need your help - ask your politician to protect at least 30% [https://ourseasscotland.eaction.org.uk/Our-Seas-Need-Your-Help] 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 [https://seaful.org.uk/donate/]. For more information about Seaful, please visit our Website [www.seaful.org.uk], Instagram [www.instagram.com/seafulcharity] or Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/seafulcharityuk]. 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 [www.calmajor.com], Instagram [www.instagram.com/cal_major] or Facebook [www.facebook.com/calmajorocean].