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Restoring Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot Through Indigenous Leadership and Ocean Science

A new visual story highlights the people and partnerships driving restoration in the Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot® on Long Island, New York. Led by scientists from Stony Brook University in collaboration with the Shinnecock Nation, this effort combines cutting-edge research with generations of Indigenous stewardship to restore a vital coastal ecosystem.
At the heart of the work is an innovative, low-impact approach to studying marine life using environmental DNA, collected by a solar-powered uncrewed vessel. This technology is helping researchers better understand biodiversity while protecting sensitive habitats.
Designated a Mission Blue Hope Spot in 2022, Shinnecock Bay is showing tangible signs of recovery after decades of degradation. The project demonstrates how science, culture, and community can come together to rebuild ocean health—and offers a powerful model for coastal restoration efforts around the world. …

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Mission Blue Dives into the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress

(ABU DHABI, UAE) – Last week, Mission Blue team members including Dr. Sylvia Earle and Chief Scientist Dr. Tessa Hempson attended the IUCN World Conservation Congress (IUCN WCC). The IUCN WCC occurs only every four years, and represents a significant opportunity for nature conservationists, decision-makers, and leaders to come together to develop and set benchmarks for global priorities in conservation.
Our goals at Mission Blue are to continue the work from the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. This includes affirming the One Ocean Partnership, supporting aligning motions through co-sponsorship and voting (see below), and continuing to build a network that is ready to turn high level ambition into impact for ocean protection. 
About the One Ocean Partnership, Dr. Tessa Hempson says, “The One Ocean Partnership isn’t about creating something new — it’s about bringing us together.…

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Polynesian Navigator Nainoa Thompson and Oceanographer Sylvia Earle Call for Urgent Ocean Action at Paris SOS Ocean Summit

Cover image: Courtesy of Presidence de la Republique France.
(PARIS, FRANCE) – Last week, renowned Oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and Polynesian Voyaging Society CEO Nainoa Thompson joined global leaders in Paris for SOS Ocean, a high-level gathering held March 30-31 at the Musée National de la Marine. Under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron and in collaboration with the Oceano Azul Foundation, the event convened policymakers, scientists, and advocates to confront urgent ocean challenges as France and Costa Rica prepare to host the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3) in Nice in two months (June 9-13, 2025).
The SOS Ocean convening aimed to shape the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a five-year agenda which will be negotiated during UNOC and is designed to prioritize ocean protection and restoration and support implementation of sustainable development goal SDG14: Life Below Water.…

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New Co-Champions Announced for Cape Whale Coast Hope Spot

Cover image: Cape Whale Coast Hope Spot Dedication
Overstrand, South Africa – The Cape Whale Coast on South Africa’s Western Cape stretches over 200 kilometers of coastline from Rooi Els to Quoin Point. A region of striking natural beauty, the Cape Whale Coast Hope Spot hosts a complex coastline of estuaries, beaches, and bays. Offshore, the convergence of the warm Agulhas Current and the cold Benguela Upwelling creates a nutrient-rich environment that sustains a wide diversity of marine life, including important breeding areas for the endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus). 
“South Africa is such an incredible part of the planet, where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean converge,” says Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue. She continues, “To be able to stand at the Cape of Good Hope and actually have two oceans, blue and green, coming together, it’s just magical.…

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Vilanova i la Geltrú Coastal Waters Named Hope Spot to Foster Fin Whale Conservation Efforts

Featured image: Fin whales, Edmaktub.org
(VILANOVA I AL GELTRÚ, SPAIN) –
The Vilanova i la Geltrú Coastal Waters Hope Spot encompasses a strip of coastal waters 12 to 15 miles wide (1944 km²) on the Catalan coast southwest of Barcelona. Recently, acoustic research findings have revealed that these waters may be an important feeding ground for fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Mediterranean.

International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue is pleased to recognize the Vilanova i la Geltrú Coastal Waters as a Hope Spot. Professor Michel André, Director of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB-UPC), Founder and President of The Sense of Silence Foundation, and Dr. Marisa Zaragozá, Director of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) campus of Vilanova i la Geltrú (UPC), are recognized as the Hope Spot Champions. …

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Catalina Island’s Blue Cavern State Marine Conservation Area Honored as a Hope Spot by Mission Blue

Featured image: Maurice Roper/USC Wrigley Institute
(SANTA CATALINA ISLAND, CALIFORNIA, USA) –
Just 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles is Santa Catalina Island, known by some as Pimuu’nga or Pimu. It is one of the eight Channel Islands and the only island with a permanent human presence. Today, the island is surrounded by nine marine protected areas, two of which are the Blue Cavern Onshore and Offshore State Marine Conservation Areas. These areas work in tandem to safeguard 10 square miles of marine life, from the shoreline through kelp forests and rocky reefs, to the sandy seabed as deep as 2,616 feet. Every year, researchers and students work and learn together along this protected marine area at the nearby Wrigley Marine Science Center, the satellite campus of the University of Southern California’s Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability.…

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Mission Blue and One Ocean Foundation Call for Enhanced Protection for Marine Mammals off Italy’s Coast with Hope Spot Declared at Canyon of Caprera

Featured image: Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) © Luca Bittau
(SARDINIAN COAST, ITALY, MEDITERRANEAN SEA) –
Just about 15-30 nautical miles off the coast and under the waves of northeast Sardinia is the Canyon of Caprera, where the waters reach more than 1,000 meters deep and are teeming with marine life. The area is known as a brilliant habitat for marine mammals, including Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus) and the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). The Canyon of Caprera is currently recognized as an Area of Interest (AoI), however, One Ocean Foundation is committed to seeing an elevation in its protection status backed by a wealth of data from their research, including visual surveys, acoustic monitoring and environmental eDNA sampling that demonstrates the biologically important life within these waters.…

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Mission Blue Recognizes Proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary as a Hope Spot

Featured image: Northern Elephant Seal © Robert Schwemmer
(CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST) – The chilly Pacific waters, rocky shorelines and rolling golden dunes that mark California’s iconic Central Coast have been home to the Chumash Peoples, among others, since time immemorial. Submerged villages of over 15,000 years past are now where sea otters float with their young and snowy plovers scuttle across the sand. Fast forward to 10 years ago, the late Chief Fred Collins proposed the first Tribally nominated National Marine Sanctuary in the United States to permanently protect over 7,000 square miles of irreplaceable ocean ecosystems and to preserve Chumash cultural heritage. Today, his daughter, Violet Sage Walker, Chair, Northern Chumash Tribal Council, is determined to carry on the Chumash Legacy of stewardship and to see her father’s dream through.…

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False Bay Hope Spot Welcomes New Co-Champions, Two Oceans Aquarium

Image: © Craig Foster / Sea Change Project
FALSE BAY, SOUTH AFRICA –
Mission Blue welcomes Two Oceans Aquarium as the new Co-Champion of the False Bay Hope Spot in False Bay, South Africa. The Aquarium brings more than 20 years of experience and strong relationships with the local community, with their popular Marine Protected Areas Day (MPA Day), beach cleanups, Dalebrook Rocky Shore exploration days and more. 
Helen Lockhart, Conservation and Sustainability Manager, says, “The Two Oceans Aquarium and its Foundation are excited to be a Co-Champion for the False Bay Hope Spot.” She continues, “Mission Blue’s Hope Spots are perfectly aligned with the mission of the Aquarium and the Foundation – to inspire people to act for the ocean, so that all may share in an abundant and healthy ocean for life.”…

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Mozambique and South Africa Unite: Maputaland Hope Spot Showcases Powerful Binational Collaboration for Ocean Protection

Straddling the border between Mozambique’s tropical coast and the subtropical east coast of South Africa are waters vibrant with biodiversity and buzzing with collaboration. Below the surface are more than 1,300 species of fish, including the “living fossil” coelacanth, four different sea turtle species, 50 species of sharks and rays, a large diversity of whales and dolphins, and much more. Up on land, Grant Brokensha, owner of The Bigger Picture Films and South African and Marcos Pereira, Co-Founder and director of Fundação Likhulu and Mozambican are two passionate individuals who have reached across their country’s borders to work together to safeguard their shared blue backyard. 
 
 
International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has named Maputaland a Hope Spot with Brokensha and Pereira as its Champions in celebration of their deep commitment to their communities and dedication to fostering a healthy future for both the wildlife and human inhabitants.…

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