This episode is about repurposing retired offshore oil rigs into reefs, maintaining highly enriched ecosystems for fisheries and marine life. Instead of removing offshore oil rigs when their oil is exhausted, this episode focuses on how they are being repurposed for multiple benefits. Blue Latitude co-founders, Amber Sparks and Emily Hazelwood, join Ted in describing their 10+ year endeavor doing just this... how their company was formed and what it does to take the concept of rigs to reefs and to turn it into a win-win reality. In graduate school at the Scripps Institution for Oceanography in La Jolla, California, Amber and Emily were scuba diving off oil rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel and witnessed remarkable sights... abundant sea life clinging on to the oil rigs supporting scaffolds. The operating rigs were creating vibrant marine ecosystems, starting with invertebrates like barnacles and sea anemones... then scallops and more, providing nurseries for schools of fish. The rigs' subsea infrastructure preserves and produces marine life, provides refuge, and has even proven to support biodiversity and reverse extinction, notably of sea stars in California. After presenting their thesis research at a conference, they were approached by an oil company that was keen on exploring the rigs to reefs option for defunct undersea infrastructures. While oil companies are responsible for removing their rigs, and returning their leased sites to their pre-existing conditions, Amber and Emily explain that their research on the undersea life revealed an alternative approach... something they now describe as "reefing." This is taking advantage of massive subsea infrastructures, scaffoldings of beams and cross-bars, that provide habitat for marine life. At the end of the rigs' oil extraction, why not maintain these new-found ecological zones below an 80-foot draft for safe passage of ships, and remove the "topsides?" Supporting this approach is exactly what Blue Latitudes does, starting in California where there are 27 offshore oil rigs, their work is now spreading around the world. Blue Latitudes studies fisheries in high-tech ways, for instance it used underwater remote operating vehicles (ROVs) that plunge to depths way beyond the reach of scuba to measure sea life and to take samples, as well as hydroacoustics to measure marine life. They raise awareness and advocate for rigs to reefs. So far, they have worked in coastal waters off the United States, Africa, South America, and Malaysia. They provide decommissioning studies, paying attention to eliminating spills prior to capping and sealing wells. The common theme of their work is applying scientific research to develop custom solutions to address complex problems at the nexus of industry and our oceans. Emily notes that there are ~1,400 rigs in the U.S. coastal waters, and some 5,000 - 7,000 rigs worldwide, all of which will reach the end of their useful lives. This is Blue Latitudes' "market." The company -- and its foundation -- has lots of work to do as these rigs -- which can be steel structures in as much as 800 feet of water -- can be repurposed for mutual benefit: The oil companies save money -- even after providing cash to local rigs to reef programs -- and the marine environment is enriched providing great benefit to local fishing industries. The conversation ends with Blue Latitudes' most recent project, a broad study of alternative uses for offshore oil rigs.. specifically their "topsides." They are exploring green hydrogen production, harvesting critical minerals from seawater, aquaculture, and establishing a network of monitoring stations for ocean data. As the world shifts from hydrocarbon extraction... finding clever solutions, like rigs to reefs, is a "silver lining" to industry and fundamental to the the Blue Latitude mission and contribution.
