December 2025 Edition
A monthly round-up of news and trends important to the AltaSea community.
AltaSea Community Spotlight
AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, the world’s leading tech hub for the Blue Economy, today announced the hiring of Carolyn Hull as the nonprofit’s interim Director of Economic and Workforce Development. Hull, a seasoned leader in economic and workforce development across the Los Angeles region, will oversee AltaSea’s efforts to expand blue economy job opportunities and support the growing ecosystem of ocean-focused innovators at AltaSea. She will also continue to serve on AltaSea’s Board of Trustees.
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AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, the world’s leading blue economy research and development hub, announced on Saturday a major long-term lease with Blue Robotics, a global leader in low-cost, high-performance underwater robotics. The 10-year, 49,000 square foot lease brings Blue Robotics headquarters and production facility to AltaSea’s 35-acre campus, joining a dynamic community of innovative ocean technology companies. The company will begin renovations on the new space in early 2026 with an anticipated grand opening near the end of the year.
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A group of high school students from Ventura’s Foothill Tech got the opportunity to try out our first attempt at this accessible, modular, and modifiable program focused on the intersection of marine sciences and the application of blue technology.
They kicked things off with an introduction to bathymetry using USVs. Shout out to the Ventura Harbor Patrol, who supported the students in planning routes and deploying BlueBoats into the harbor to collect data and create comprehensive maps!
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The world faces two unprecedented challenges: reducing reliance on fossil fuels and removing legacy carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Equatic is the only carbon removal company that tackles both. Created from more than a decade of research and development at UCLA’s Samueli School of Engineering, the patented technology accelerates the ocean’s inherent ability to absorb and permanently store massive amounts of carbon while simultaneously producing carbon-negative hydrogen. Mobilizing Equatic technology at commercial scale will help solve the world’s most urgent climate challenge, while creating immense value for industries and communities.
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When Eric and Alan Johnson were grade school kids growing up in Palos Verdes in the early 1960s, they had a favorite adventure. They’d bicycle down the Hill into the industrial wilds of San Pedro, all the way to the Port of Los Angeles, a land of towering cranes, big ships and barges. At the water’s edge awaited Ports O’ Call, a sprawling new entertainment district that was built in the style of a 19th Century New England fishing village — with a few odd Polynesian touches — but to the wide-eyed amazement of the Johnson boys contained a whole world of wonders.
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Thank you TraPac!
TraPac presented a $15,000 contribution to support student underwater robotics programs. These programs, funded through AltaSea, bring hands-on robotics curriculum into local schools and spark early interest in marine science and technology.
TraPac is proud to be the first marine terminal partnering with AltaSea on this initiative, and look forward to continuing this work together and expanding opportunities for future STEM and ocean leaders.
Join UrgentSEA
No matter what is going on in the world, the oceans continue to bring waves to shore. Here at AltaSea, we look towards the ocean for both solutions and inspiration—the oceans don’t stop, and neither do we.
AltaSea remains committed to supporting science-based solutions to climate change—solutions that both protect the oceans and benefit local communities. But we can’t do it without your support. Please make a tax-deductible donation and join UrgentSEA, our new membership campaign, today.
Welcome New Members!
Eric B.
Steve B.
Alex C.
Sidney C.
Robin C.
Michael D.
Allen F.
Jeff G.
Pamela G.
Kevin G.
Michael J.
- Jenny K.
- Vanessa M.
- Rick M.
- Terry T.
Michael V.
- Aubrey Y.
Marine Science
The first components of Aquafarm Equipment’s closed containment system are already in Saudi Arabia. The Norwegian aquaculture technology supplier unloaded them last week at the Port of NEOM, the city and economic-technological area that the Middle Eastern country is promoting in the kingdom’s northwest to support the diversification of its economy and offer sustainable urban solutions.
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Coral reefs have long been celebrated as biodiversity hotspots—but new research shows they have also played a much deeper role: conducting the rhythm of Earth’s carbon and climate cycles for more than 250 million years.
Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study reveals that the rise and fall of shallow-water reef habitats have governed how quickly the planet recovered from major carbon dioxide (CO₂) shocks.
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Over the past five decades, approximately 50 percent of global kelp forests have been lost. This decline significantly impacted fish populations, exacerbated ocean acidification, diminished carbon sequestration capacity and reduced the effectiveness of nutrient removal from land runoff and aquaculture. The new partnership aims to deliver advanced technological solutions to support effective monitoring and sustainable management of sea forests.
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At the Australian Institute of Marine Science, artificial intelligence is being leveraged to help restore coral reefs after recent bleaching events.
Following the autumn spawning season on the Great Barrier Reef, AIMS scientists are looking to give the corals a helping hand by dropping coral larvae down onto degraded reef segments.
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Sustainable and Innovative Business
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In the face of escalating climate, geopolitical, and financial instability, investors are underestimating an asset offering outsize environmental, social, and financial returns. But taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the blue economy requires building the foundational architecture for ocean finance.
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The Atlantic Ocean relentlessly drives powerful waves to Portugal’s coastline every single day without pause, carrying an energy density five times higher than wind and at least ten times that of solar. At the Aguçadoura offshore site near Porto, this constant ocean power is being harnessed through innovative Wave Energy Converter technology that’s already proven its resilience by surviving Atlantic storms with 18.5-meter waves.
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Education
For more than 137 years, education has been foundational to the National Geographic Society’s mission. We believe that advancing knowledge and inspiring curiosity are essential to understanding and protecting our world and we bring the lessons, skills, and insights of National Geographic Explorers and educators to communities of learners around the world. Central to our work today is the cultivation of the Explorer Mindset—the attitudes, skills and knowledge that Explorers use to find solutions to the world’s most challenging problems.
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Ocean Wise Education works with audiences of all backgrounds and sizes, from schools and youth-serving agencies, and community groups to individuals and families. Each of the areas are targeted to a range of ages and developmental stages, covering young ocean enthusiasts from toddlers to late teens. The unifying Principles of Ocean Literacy are woven throughout all of our programs, providing a common thread and a shared language to work with the other ocean conservation leaders.
When investors are deciding where to put their money, they ask fundamental questions about the nature of the opportunity, its risks, and the expected return. When it comes to the ocean, the answer to the last question is particularly compelling: investing in a resilient and sustainable blue economy offers immense environmental, social, and financial returns.