Second Season Of Seabank Chronicles Podcast Dives Into Various Southeast Alaska Topics

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Sustainable Fisherman’s Trust:

 Terpenes, Biofilm, and the Portfolio Effect: Alaska-Focused Organizations Pool Knowledge, Share Secrets of Rare Ecosystem

[Sitka, Alaska, September 29, 2025] – How have ancient volcanoes and ice-age glaciers boosted climate resilience in Alaska salmon? Why do scent molecules ramp up the cooling power of Southeast forests? What are 350,000 western sandpipers doing on the oozing Stikine River Delta mudflats each spring—besides enchanting birders with their breathtaking murmurations? What are terpenes, biofilm, and an evolutionary phenomenon called the portfolio effect?

Find out in Season 2 of the 7-minute SeaBank Chronicles science podcast from the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (ASFT) when six organizations with deep ties to Southeast’s rare rainforest ecosystem pool their expertise to share secrets and inform citizens. 

Contributors to Season 2 of the podcast include Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Salmon Beyond Borders, Audubon Alaska,Sitka Seafood Market, Acme Smoked Fish, and Earthjustice. “Our pool of experts is deep and wide,” says series producer Beth Short-Rhoads, “they’re knowledgeable about everything from salmon watersheds to shorebirds to marine water quality. We’re pleased to have two seafood businesses in our cadre because they remind us the Southeast economy is heavily dependent on the seafood resources housed in our ecosystem.”

The SeaBank Chronicles is focused on delivering science information that is often new to the layperson. For example, the Taku River watershed was recently declared an official salmon stronghold due to its potential for increasing habitat. “We partnered with the Chronicles to let listeners know that the Taku and other glaciated river systems could increase salmon habitat on lands that ring the Gulf of Alaska by 27% in the coming decades as glaciers melt,” says Breanna Walker, director of Salmon Beyond Borders. “This information is a license to hope, and also a reason to step up conservation efforts.”

Adventure is always central to a SeaBank Chronicles episode. “In Season 2, listeners will go on a helicopter flyover, a jet boat ride, and a snorkeling excursion,” says Short-Rhoads. Midway through the series, they’ll also cook a feast of miso-marinated black cod, surrounded by the warmth of a crackling fire and traditional Japanese folk tunes. “Music and sound effects are the blanket you wrap yourself in while listening to this podcast. It’s 7 minutes of spellbinding audio immersion.”

 According to Short-Rhoads, the SeaBank Chronicles is unique because it delves into local science, applying research in biology, chemistry, and physics to the specific landscapes and life forms at the heart of Southeast Alaska ecosystems–lands and waters collectively dubbed “the SeaBank” for their capacity to store economic, cultural, and social riches. “I don’t know of any other series in the region that gets so granular and so close to home,” she says. “It will change the way listeners think about the world around them—specifically, our world right here in this rare coastal temperate rainforest.”Season 2 of the SeaBank Chronicles launches on October 1, and early previews for media organizations are available by request at the contact information below. Starting October 1, new episodes will be available to the public at www.thealaskatrust.org/podcast, Apple, Spotify, and other platforms.