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The SeaBank Chronicles

The SeaBank Chronicles

Written by: Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust
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The SeaBank Chronicles is a natural sound theater transporting you through the living science of Southeast Alaska. Combining facts and mystery, each 7-minute episode delivers listeners to Alaska’s coastal rainforest where they groundtruth terrestrial and marine ecosystems guided by a calm and trusted radio operator. Voice narration is woven with rich audio effects to create an immersive experience that is educational and spellbinding. Listeners will learn about the wild and silvery nation of migrating salmon, ancient old growth forests, and the human communities who make their home among them. A project of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, The SeaBank Chronicles is written, hosted, and produced by Beth Short-Rhoads.yes Biological Sciences Nature & Ecology Science Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Episodes
  • #14 – Joules of the Sea: The Hidden Lives of Hooligan
    Nov 11 2025

    There’s a submersible in the SeaBank supply closet. Locate that—and some thick socks. We’re off to find some hooligan, and they like it cold.

    Hooligan are a forage fish that spawn in glacial-fed SeaBank rivers where ideal temperature and salinity conditions support the survival of this rich species. Made of 20% oil, hooligan are a link between essential fatty acids found in plankton and the rest of the food web. Each spring, they return to the SeaBank’s icy waters where embryos tumble-incubate to estuaries before hatching. Hooligan have been a key spring food for Indigenous people for millennia, providing nutrients, medicine, and cultural connection in addition to feeding sea mammals, eagles, and other fish after a long, lean winter.

    As hooligan runs falter elsewhere on the west coast of North America, it’s more important than ever to protect SeaBank waterways where this key forage fish still thrives.

    When in doubt, just keep listening.

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    7 mins
  • #13 – Forests are Cool Place: 3 More Reasons People Need Trees
    Nov 5 2025

    Sensors in your smart shirt indicate you're overheating. Follow the voice of your radio operator to the shelter of a forest canopy. This adventure in the cooling power of trees is sponsored by Earthjustice.

    You’ve worked up a sweat groundtruthing the SeaBank ecosystem. Lucky for you, there’s a forest in your future—a place where temperatures dip to human-friendly levels beneath feathery western hemlocks and prickly Sitka spruce. But it’s not just shade that makes this old growth forest a cool place. Amid a soundtrack of rustling treetops, flowing water, and spellbinding musical interludes, you’ll learn three ways that forests help cool our planet, beyond the shade factor and the major benefit of climate sequestration. It’s all about those piney smells wafting around you, branches sighing overhead, and the voracious appetite of hydrogen bonds. Think forests are passive players in climate-proofing our world? Think again. More information about the connection between people and forests at www.earthjustice.org.

    The SeaBank Chronicles is a natural sound theater transporting you through the living science of Southeast Alaska. Combining facts and mystery, each 7-minute episode delivers listeners to Alaska’s coastal rainforest to groundtruth terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Immerse yourself in rich audio effects woven with lush voice narration for an experience that is educational and spellbinding. A project of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, The SeaBank Chronicles is written, hosted, and produced by Beth Short-Rhoads.

    When in doubt, just keep listening.

    Sources and credits.

    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
  • #12 – A Salmon Habitat Mosaic: Why Glaciers and Volcanoes Matter to Fish
    Oct 28 2025

    Grab all the foul-weather gear you can find—in this transmission, you’ll trek across a tumultuous landscape in search of resilience strategies for wild Alaska salmon. Sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish.

    Ice-age glaciers, volcanoes, tectonic motion, windstorms, and flooding are all part of the package when it comes to salmon’s biggest defense against climate change: genetic diversity. While Alaska is home to five species of Pacific salmon, its genetically-distinct stocks number in the hundreds of perhaps even thousands. With subtle differences in appearance and behavior, these robust populations embody what scientists call the “portfolio effect.” What does this mean and how can it help salmon remain climate resilient? Find out as you enjoy a soundtrack of immersive sounds and musical interludes that take you from the placid lakes of Alaska’s Bristol Bay region to the rushing rivers of Southeast. Then, read Sockeye 101 at www.acmesmokedfish.com.

    The SeaBank Chronicles is a natural sound theater transporting you through the living science of Southeast Alaska. Combining facts and mystery, each 7-minute episode delivers listeners to Alaska’s coastal rainforest to groundtruth terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Immerse yourself in rich audio effects woven with lush voice narration for an experience that is educational and spellbinding. A project of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, The SeaBank Chronicles is written, hosted, and produced by Beth Short-Rhoads.

    When in doubt, just keep listening.

    Sources and credits.

    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
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