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Strengthening Ocean Conservation in Southern Africa: Mission Blue Unites Hope Spot Champions in South Africa and Mozambique

 
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA & MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE — Mission Blue recently concluded a series of workshops and partnership meetings in South Africa and Mozambique, bringing together Hope Spot Champions, conservation organisations, scientists, and government partners to strengthen collaboration and accelerate ocean protection across this globally significant region.
Stretching along the southwestern Indian Ocean, the marine ecosystems of South Africa and Mozambique support extraordinary biodiversity, vital migratory routes for marine species, and coastal communities whose livelihoods depend on a healthy ocean. These gatherings created space for leaders working on the frontlines of conservation to share lessons learned, align strategies, and build stronger partnerships for the protection of these critical marine areas.
Hope Spots: Critical Places for the Ocean
Mission Blue’s Hope Spots are special places around the world that have been scientifically identified as critical to the health of the ocean.…

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Remembering Kristina Gjerde: The Mother of the High Seas and a Champion for Ocean Protection

The ocean remembers its guardians.
On December 26, 2025, the ocean lost one of its fiercest protectors. Kristina Maria Gjerde—often called the mother of the High Seas—passed from this world, leaving behind a legacy written not only in law and policy, but in the living fabric of the ocean itself. Kristina was a member of the Mission Blue family, serving on the Hope Spots Council since its inception. 
Kristina Gjerde and Dr. Sylvia Earle worked together over many years as complementary forces in global ocean conservation—one shaping the legal and policy architecture needed to protect the ocean, the other galvanizing public awareness, science, and moral urgency.
Their collaboration was rooted in a shared belief that the ocean is a living system deserving of protection beyond national boundaries. …

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Historic High Seas Treaty Enters Into Force

Featured image: ©Andrew Stevenson
 
NEW YORK, NY– On January 17, 2026, the High Seas Treaty—formally the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)—entered into force, marking a historic moment for the ocean and for global cooperation.

“Half of the world is beyond national jurisdiction – the blue half that has a disproportionately significant role in maintaining Earth as a planet hospitable for life as we know it. Today, with the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty, marks a significant step in the right direction. Now is the time to take this action and keep going. The ocean is large and resilient, but not too big to fail – and we have an opportunity now to drive impactful ocean protection.…

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Brazil’s Award-Winning Alcatrazes Archipelago Joins Hope Spot Network

Featured image: Leo Francini
(SÃO PAOLO, BRAZIL) –
 Just off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil, a small grouping of rocky islands teem with life above and below the ocean’s surface. The Alcatrazes Archipelago and their surrounding waters are home to coral reef environments over rocky shores, and contain two no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) that safeguard over 1,300 marine and terrestrial species, 20 of which are endemic.
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue is pleased to announce the Alcatrazes Archipelago as a Hope Spot. Dr. Vinicius José Giglio, Professor at Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará (UFOPA), and Dr. Ronaldo Bastos Francini-Filho, Professor and Researcher at Center for Marine Biology at the Universidade de São Paulo 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.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, sylvia earle, Uncategorized |

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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.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, sylvia earle, Uncategorized |

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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.”…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, sylvia earle, Uncategorized |

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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.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, sylvia earle, Uncategorized |

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Inspiration and Hope in Mozambique

In October 2023, Mission Blue was on the ground (and in the water!) at the Inhambane Seascape Hope Spot. Established as a Hope Spot in 2022, the Inhambane Seascape lies along the southern coast of Mozambique. This region is rated as a Globally Outstanding marine conservation area by IUCN, and recognized as a potential world heritage site by UNESCO. It is also described as an important region in Africa for many large, iconic marine megafauna species, like the last viable population of dugongs in the Indian Ocean, humpback dolphins and oceanic manta rays. Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species, including green, leatherbacks, olive ridley, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles, swim in these waters and nest along the shoreline. The productive waters provide critical habitat for migratory species, as evidenced by the hundreds of humpback whales sighted during our short time in the region. …

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