Radio Marinara

TOMORROW, 9am:
With deepest thanks to all who have subscribed and donated (so far!) in this year’s Radiothon, Bron and Kade return to normal (ish) programming this week, and wade back in to explore underwater habitat restoration, a partnership approach to climate action in the Pacific and what happens when the world's penguin experts amass...
• Scott Breschkin brings us the latest in underwater habitat restoration, including two community comps from The Nature Conservancy - the Oceania Photo Contest – with $15K up for grabs, get happy snapping good people! And there's also a 2026 Nature Writing Prize, with $9K on offer.
• Professor Tim Flannery (RMIT) speaks about The Pacific Initiative, RMIT’s multi-program collaboration with leaders and communities from South Pacific Island nations, codesigning culturally sensitive climate change actions. Bron speaks with Tim about the Pacific Initiative and a special Q&A and screening of the powerful documentary ‘YUMI the whole world’ at RMIT’s Capitol Theatre on 9 September.
• And the world’s penguin experts are waddling into Phillip Island/Millowl for the 12th International Penguin Conference. To find out what’s in store, we’ll be talking with one of the local organisers, Dr André Chiaradia — one of Australia’s leading little penguin chasers and researcher.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

Anth, Bron, Cabin Boy, Rex, Ben and Dave will be aboard the good ship Marinara for week 2 of Radiothon!

After such a fun week one we are back with more fish names or celebration names, or even fishy celebration names for EVERYONE who subscribes to RRR during our show.

In Radio Marinara's 30th year on air, 3RRR turns 50 and we will celebrate great public radio with you as we all contribute to keep the sound waves (yep - that was a pun) coming in and washing (pun again) into your ears!

Every single subscription and donation made to the station will help fund Triple R and allow us to continue doing what the station has been doing for another 50 years. So, if you believe in the power of fish and Triple R, then help Celebrate 50 Years! ...and subscribe and donate now at rrr.org.au!

Come on, who doesn't need a fishy celebration name...!

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW 9AM:
Radiothon 2026– Celebrating Triple R’s Golden Anniversary – 50 years!

It is with great pleasure that the Radio Marinara team invite you to attend the 2026 Triple R Radiothon!

Celebrating 50 years of Triple R, and just quietly, nearly 30 years of Radio Marinara, Bron, Dr Beach, Kade and Rachel, joined by Dave Donnelly, Ben Francischelli and Scott Breschkin, will be your party MCs to welcome you to the event of the year!!
Not sure what to get us? That’s ok – there’s a gift registry, with only one item on it – a Triple R membership! Of course you may choose your own gift from our donations range. We would be so very thrilled if you would please purchase a 2026 subscription for us, and keep Triple R going for another year.

And as always, we have a goodies bag for you too! There are all the good things that a subscription brings, PLUS when you RSVP during 9-10am tomorrow, we officially welcome you to the party with your traditional Marinara ‘fish name’ and this year, the fish are all glammed up and ready to party!!

Will you be our ‘RSVP Fiddler Ray’, ‘Giftcard Goby’, ‘Party Popper Porpoise’? Or perhaps a ‘Lolly Bag Luderick’, a ‘Pinata Pufferfish’ or a ‘Pass the Parcel Parrotfish’? Or let us know your own fish name when you subscribe.

Only one way to find out – RSVP Sunday 9-10am - we can’t wait to see your name pop up on the studio screen!

Radio Marinara
Sundays 9-10am, Three Triple R, 102.7FM, or listen live or later, via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW, 9am:
Bron and Dr Beach pop on the dry suits and wade in to to explore the Lonny Foghorn revival, new hope for Australian marine conservation, and CO2 reduction strategies - to fertilize or not to fertilize oceans, that is the question…
• For generations, the foghorn at the Point Lonsdale lighthouse known as the ‘Lonny Foghorn’ was a critical part of daily life on Port Phillip Bay, and in days gone by, literally saved the lives of mariners making their way safely through the Port Phillip Rip. It stopped working some years ago, but good news – the Lonny Foghorn is getting ready to roar again! We speak with Kerri Erler, President, Queenscliffe Maritime Museum about the Lonny Foghorn restoration project, and how you can get on board as a ‘Hornblower’.
• Last week we were very excited to hear about a proposal known as the 'Lord Howe and Norfolk Island sanctuaries plan' - to massively expand marine sanctuary protection around Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island, as part of a national review of ocean protections. Should it go ahead, high-level protection will be provided for another 670,000 square kilometres of ocean – that's an area larger than France! We speak with Adele Pedder, Protected Areas Manager of the Australian Marine Conservation Society about this announcement, and further consultation underway about protections of marine environments around the Australian Coastline.
• And this week's Life's a Beach pulls apart the controversial idea of fertilizing oceans with iron to stimulate algal blooms. We, in particular South Australians, will be immediately wary of the harm this could bring to other sea life. But there are huge potential benefits in drawing masses of climate change-causing C02 from the atmosphere and sending it to the ocean floor. Should it happen, and who will regulate it? All this is discussed in this week's Nature and Dr Beach looks forward to airing it on Sunday.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW 9AM:
This week the oars of Marinara are being guided through the water by Anth, Kade and Rex Hunter.

The supply and demand for crew at Melbourne during the 19th century proved problematic, with demand often outstripping supply. From the earliest times of settlement crews have deserted one ship for another, usually with the aid of a middle-man: a crimp. The crimp would entice a crewmember with tales of better money and conditions aboard another ship. The humble sailor, 'Jack Tar' would then fall into a trap where he was plied with alcohol or drugged, finding himself aboard another ship bound for who-know-where, on the same money, less his months advance pay. Rex explores the dark history of crimping at the port of Melbourne during the 19th century.

What does it take to grow a seagrass meadow? Join us as we chat with Deakin University Researcher Laney Callahan about the work being done to restore seagrass in Western Port and why these often-overlooked plants are so important.

And to the deep sea to finish off... some really interesting recent research looking at the role of the deep sea for two things: as a place for carbon from the atmosphere, and where tiny turbulent waves in one part of the deep can impact how climate change is modelled.

Splash splash.

Radio Marinara, Sundays 9-10am Three Triple R 102.7FM
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW, 9am:
• Most mammals including ourselves have limited ability to hear underwater, but seals can hear on land and in the ocean. It’s always been unknown how they do it, and when this ability evolved. Brand new research has identified specialised tissue inside seals’ ears that gives them the superpower of amphibious hearing – and even more so – when it evolved. We’ll speak with Monash University’s Dr James Rule about this exciting new discovery, and what it means for how we understand the impacts of human-generated underwater noise on seals.
• Following the rejuvenated St Kilda pier scooping the big gong at the recent Vic architectural awards, we’re excited at Marinara to be joined by landscape architect Chris Sawyer and architect Graeme Burrows to talk about their brief and the success of its ex*****on: most importantly the penguins seem happy, as are the humans on this now even more beautiful bayside landmark.
• And Dave Donnelly (Killer Whales Australia and Dolphin Research Institute) celebrates World Whale and Dolphin Day with us by taking a look at the magnificent megafauna currently making their way up, across and around our coastline, including that spectacular footage this week of an orca ramming a sunfish, and the latest local orca sightings.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW, 9am:
Bron, Kade and Cabin Boy crack a book or two with some poetry and rare books about the sea, and then dive into the science behind one of the most toxic microalgae ever tested in South Australia…
• The Dune Thistle is a hardy native plant found along Australia’s coastlines, withstanding salt, wind, and sun to help stabilise the land, but often misunderstood and mistakenly removed as an invasive w**d. Melbourne poet Oscar O’Neill Pugh tells us about ‘Musings of a Dune Thistle’, a collection of poetry that uses the lifecycle of the dune thistle to explore themes of struggle, endurance and strength.
• Hayley Webster joins us to talk about Museums Victoria’s upcoming Rare Book Week, displaying some of their literary treasures for us all to see, including some books about the sea we’ve most likely never heard of. Hayley will also tell us about the sessions ‘Treasures from the Sea, A Rare Book Display’ and ‘The Paper Argonaut – adventures in Art, Science and Rare Books’ that you can get along to next Saturday 25 July.
• The organism behind South Australia's harmful algal bloom may be one of the most toxic microalgae ever tested. Associate Professor Craig Styan for University of Adelaide will join us to talk about how this was discovered and why it matters.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW, 9am:
Bron and Dr Beach cover reef restoration through the wintry months, bird flu research from Antarctica and South America, and real time, right now, movements of deep sea tectonic plates….
• While we might be in mid-winter, the hard work to restore lost underwater habitats continues throughout these cold dark months. Scott Breschkin brings us the latest from the field of marine habitat restoration including getting the word out there via docos, community presentations, and updates on current projects restoring oyster reefs in Corio Bay and Corner Inlet, and further up the coast in NSW.
• Reports of Australian marine animals being hit by the H5N1 Influenza virus, known as ‘bird flu’, are growing, but it might surprise you to know this virus has been around for a long time. We speak with Dr Meagan Dewar (Federation University) to take a look back at the history of the H5N1 virus, and her team’s research into the impacts on marine seabirds and mammals in South America and Antarctica.
• And Life's a Beach continues the deep-sea theme with a ground-breaking (or should we say, sea-floor breaking) paper detailing the first observations of the earth's crust splitting apart at a mid-oceanic ridge. French geophysicists monitoring 20 recording stations in the southern Indian Ocean have detailed, in this week's Nature, a more than 2-metre separation of the Australian and Antarctic plates in April 2024 that released 160 million cubic metres tonnes of lava over several days. Though this process of tectonic plate movement has been understood for many decades, this is the first time it has been witnessed in real time.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au

Tomorrow 9am:

Anth and Rex talk Whales, Port Phillip as a Marine Highway and those giant Bloomin' Octopus' of the UK...

We cross to Dave Donnelly live at the Phillip Island Whale Festival to hear about the Festival and the latest whale news.

From Whales to Octopus - Bryce Stewart will catch us up with the latest on the massive octopus bloom in the UK, including a new short film Bloomin' Octopus. There are just so many there and it seems to be changing the ecology and the fisheries of the whole region. Is it a threat or an opportunity?

From the early days of Melbourne through to the early 1940s Port Phillip Bay had served as a marine highway for sailing vessels. Wind powered craft, under 50 tons, shipped goods and materials around the Bay, carting general cargoes, ballast, lime and fertilizer. However, by the late 1920s these trades had closed, leaving a bunch of time-stragglers to eke out a living carting shell-grit from the Bellarine Peninsula to Melbourne, under sail. Rex will be diving deep into this subject giving an overview and its ultimate end by mid-1940.

Radio Marinara, 102.7FM, or listen live or later via rrr.org.au

TOMORROW, 9am:
Bron and Dr Beach explore ancient marine mammals on the Bellarine, new approaches to dealing with introduced pests in the Galapagos, and
• First up, we’ll catch up with Ben Francischelli, live on location on the Bellarine Peninsula for a ‘hunt in real time’ live cross to where Ben will be looking for shark teeth and whale fossils. Ben also brings news of two exciting talks he’ll be giving next week at the Island Whale Festival – all his talks have sold out months in advance, so here’s your chance!
• Dr Chi Le (Edith Cowan University) joins us to talk about a new paper she’s co-authored that has identified a smarter, more effective way to protect fragile marine ecosystems from invasive species - an approach based on research done in the Galapagos Islands, UNESCO World Heritage site, and which brings global relevance for island regions around the world.
• And in Life’s a Beach, Dr Beach takes us into a deep chat about the incredible whale fall recently discovered with the Chinese submersible Fendouzhe off the coast of south-west WA. This 1200 km-long and five to seven km-deep necropolis is a unique find that also introduces us to the creatures that thrive in the graveyard and unveils fossils of a now extinct beaked whale that are millions of years old.

Radio Marinara, Triple R, 102.7FM – for all things wet and salty.
Sunday mornings, 9-10am
Listen live or later via rrr.org.au