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Prince William Sound is Alaska’s First Hope Spot!

Prince William Sound lies in the heart of the southcentral Alaska coastline, encompassing 3,500 miles of intricate coastline. With a dramatic landscape of fjords, islands, and over 150 glaciers, Prince William Sound is home to a vibrant diversity of wildlife. Over 220 species of birds share the Sound with brown and black bears (Ursus arctos, U. americanus) and an array of marine mammals including orca (Orcinus orca), minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).
 

 
Prince William Sound is a resilient ecosystem and holds significant historical, cultural and spiritual value. Past impacts include logging and mining activities, whaling and sea otter trades, the 1964 earthquake, and notably, the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, from which recreation and wilderness values as well as some seabird and marine mammal populations are still recovering.…

Posted in Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, hope spots, mission blue, Multimedia, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, Uncategorized |

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St Helena Island Recognized as Mission Blue Hope Spot

In the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and Brazil lies a remote volcanic island of a mighty 47 square miles (121.7 square kilometers). Discovered uninhabited in 1502 by the Portuguese, St Helena Island became a British Overseas Territory in 1659 and is now home to 4,439 residents (2021 Census). Due to its remote geographic location and small population, the island has not suffered the environmental degradation commonly seen in other blue places around the world. Recognizing this, the St Helena National Trust, and local and UK governments are working in tandem to maintain a vibrant and healthy future for both the island’s wildlife and human inhabitants.
 

 
 
International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has named St Helena Island a Hope Spot in honor of the island’s ongoing initiatives to manage and monitor its marine environment as well as to grow a sustainable economy.…

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Sink or Swim: Protecting and Restoring Key Mangrove Habitats for Juvenile Shark Species in the Golfo Dulce Hope Spot, Costa Rica

Golfo Dulce is one of only four tropical fjords in the world and is located on the Pacific coast of southern Costa Rica. Its warm, clear waters are home to an impressive array of marine life and play an important role in sustaining a number of critically important ecosystems.
 
 
Mission Blue designated the area a Hope Spot in 2019, in support of establishing official protection from the Costa Rican government to prevent the illegal fishing of scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) in the gulf. Research conducted by local conservation organization Misión Tiburón’, suggests that the area is an important nursery ground for the Eastern Tropical Pacific population of the Critically Endangered scalloped hammerhead shark.
 
Ilena Zanella, Hope Spot Champion and Co-founder, Misión Tiburón, says, “To protect migratory species, it is necessary to integrate conservation efforts into every phase of their life cycle.”  …

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

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Humboldt Archipelago in Chile Approved as a Multi-Use Marine Coastal Protected Area

Featured image: Playa Las Tijeras, Isla Damas, Humboldt Archipelago, Chile © Cesar Villarroel

On August 14th, 2023, Chile’s Council of Ministers for Sustainability approved the Humboldt Archipelago Multi-Use Marine Coastal Protected Area (AMCP-MU). Located between the Atacama and Coquimbo regions, this new area will cover more than 5,700 square kilometers.
Susannah J. Buchan, PhD, Champion of the Humboldt Archipelago Hope Spot and Principal Investigator, CEAZA and COPAS Coastal Research Centers, and Visiting Professor, University of Concepción says, “The creation of the Humboldt Archipelago Multiple Use Marine Protected area is an important step forward in the protection of this unique habitat, particularly from the building of new mega-ports in this area.” She adds, “We thank the hard work of the Chilean Ministry of the Environment.…

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

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Dr. Sylvia Earle: A Hero to Rio de Janeiro’s Ocean

Featured image: © Luciano Candisani
By Aline Aguiar, Champion, Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot

In July 2023, Dr. Sylvia Earle visited the Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot in Rio de Janeiro for her first dive in Brazilian waters.
Hosted by Ilhas do Rio Project, Dr. Earle’s visit was a quick trip, albeit intense and highly productive. While gaining a closer look at the Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot, Dr. Earle attended the Ocean and Climate Conference and went on her first SCUBA dive in Brazil. Dr. Earle’s visit to Rio de Janeiro inspires multiple generations of researchers, environmentalists, and decision-makers to advocate for the ocean.
 
 
After a long flight from the United States’ west coast, “Her Deepness” arrived in Brazil on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023.…

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

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Everything Sharks! A Virtual Event with Eastern Tropical Pacific Shark Experts

August 25th, 2023 at 11:00am PDT (GMT – 7:00)
Everything Sharks! A Virtual Event with Eastern Tropical Pacific Shark Experts, Hosted by Mission Blue and MigraMar
 

 
Our Speakers:
Moderator – Max Bello, International ocean policy expert, Member, MigraMar
LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter
Alex Hearn – President, MigraMar, and Professor Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Hope Spot Champion, Galápagos Islands Hope Spot, Cocos-Galápagos Swimway Hope Spot
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
Sandra Bessudo – Marine biologist, Founder and Director of Malpelo Foundation, Hope Spot Champion, Malpelo Island Hope Spot, Member, MigraMar
 

 
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Ilena Zanella – Founder, Misión Tiburón, Hope Spot Champion, Golfo Dulce Hope Spot, Member, MigraMar
Email: , LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
James Ketchum – Director of Marine Conservation and Co-Founder of Pelagios Kakunja, Hope Spot Champion, Gulf of California, Member, MigraMar
Email: …

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

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Verde Island Passage Named a Hope Spot Highlighting Community Reef Monitoring Program

Featured image: Coastal community drone © Joal Ascalon
(VERDE ISLAND PASSAGE, CORAL TRIANGLE, PHILIPPINES)

The Verde Island Passage (VIP) is a major waterway that separates southern Luzon Island from northern Mindoro Island in the Philippines, extending from Lubang Island in the west to Tablas Island in the east. Its 1.14 million hectares of coral reef, mangrove, and seagrass habitats possess a remarkable abundance of marine life, provide livelihoods to millions of people through fishing and ecotourism, serve as a major step commercial shipping channel, and houses significant industrial complexes along part of its shoreline.
Dr. Terrence Gosliner, Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, California Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Wilfredo “Al” Licuanan, Distinguished Full Professor in the Department of Biology and a University Fellow at De La Salle University (DLSU) and their partners are seeking the inclusion of the Verde Island Passage as a National Integrated Protected Area System of the Philippines and declaration as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area of the International Maritime Organization. …

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Successful Coral Restoration Efforts Celebrated at Newly Declared Ocean Cay Hope Spot in the Bahamas

Ocean Cay is a former industrial island located 22 miles south of Bimini, The Bahamas, and 65 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. Since 2015, through multi-disciplinary and institutional collaborations, the MSC Foundation and MSC Group have restored the island to re-establish its ecological balance after years of destructive activities. The Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve has been recognized by the government of The Bahamas as an area of high biological productivity and biodiversity and as such, has been recommended for ‘Marine Protected Area’ status. The MSC Foundation and its partners are hopeful that their marine conservation work can take the recognition process over the finish line to achieve official protection. 
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has declared Ocean Cay a Hope Spot and Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Foundation Board Member and Chair of the Executive Committee – as the Hope Spot Champion in recognition of the Foundation and its partners’ programs to restore the area to its natural state to achieve a balanced ecology that can be maintained for generations to come.…

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My Thoughts on Deep Sea Mining by Dr. Sylvia Earle

Featured image: Bamboo coral, family Isididae on steep rock in the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone Hope Spot © Dan Jones, ECOMAR Project
If you would like to watch our June 2023 live webinar with Dr. Sylvia Earle on this topic, you can view it on the Mission Blue YouTube channel.
By: Dr. Sylvia Earle

Deep sea mining is much on my mind. Greed, not need, has inspired an amazingly seductive marketing campaign that has generated a dangerous smog in the minds of many who are willing to accept the pitch without considering the harsh economic, environmental and common sense realities involved.
Imagine!  The fate of half of the world is on the chopping block, with authority to decide actions vested in a council of 36 individuals representing the interests of 168 countries and – although most are oblivious to what’s going on – the interests of 8 billion people and all of life on Earth.…

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

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Recording & Resources: Diving in Deep, Mining the High Seas – A Panel Discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle

Thank you for joining us for Diving in Deep: Mining the High Seas – A Panel Discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle on June 20th, 2023! 
To stay up-to-date on future Mission Blue virtual events, bookmark our Events page and subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
In this roundtable discussion, moderator Carl Lundin, Advisor, Mission Blue, guided the conversation with Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Sandor Mulsow, Vasser Seydel, and Sian Owen about deep-sea mining in the high seas, and what we are risking by exploiting this largely unexplored living system.
 

You can also view “Deep Trouble” with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Yo-Yo Ma below:

Our Panelists:
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue and National Geographic Explorer in Residence

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