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Laamafaru Festival 2021 Celebrates Ocean Conservation at Laamu Atoll Hope Spot

By Leanna Crowley, Marketing Communications Manager, Six Senses Laamu Resort

Since 2016, the Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) by Six Senses Laamu has organized a community festival in Laamu Atoll with the aim of raising awareness of and increasing protection for sea turtles. The Laamu Turtle Festival brought people from across the atoll together to pledge ‘Turtles in Laamu – Safe and Protected’. In 2019, MUI recognized the growing need to raise awareness about the conservation of entire marine ecosystems and the services they provide, in order to safeguard the Maldives from the negative effects of climate change or unsustainable practices. That is why, in 2019, the resort and local stakeholders in Laamu Atoll voted to broaden the scope of the 4th annual festival to Laamafaru Festival, or ‘Laamu’s Reefs Festival’ in Dhivehi, under the theme ‘Our Ocean – Safe and Protected’.…

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From Hope Spot to Marine Protected Area: A Conservation Win for Western Australia

Photo: Jason Dickie, Oceanwise Australia

WESTERN AUSTRALIA (December 3rd, 2021)
Beginning with his work in the Ningaloo Reef in 1998, Dr. Ben Fitzpatrick of Oceanwise Australia has contributed to research, management, and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems for more than two decades. As the Champion of the Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area Hope Spot established in 2019, he and his team have helped shift the local momentum from industrialization to protection for Exmouth Gulf and the surrounding area.
Today the Government of Western Australia has announced a commitment to implement a spatial management plan for a new Marine Park in the area in congruence with the Plan for Our Parks policy. According to the official government release, “A new marine park will be established for the eastern and southern parts of the [Exmouth] Gulf, and Class A reserves will be gazetted for local areas of significance such as Qualing Pool, Camerons Cave and the Gulf’s islands.”…

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New Hope Spot Designated in the Eastern Pacific Ocean Celebrates New Marine Conservation Center and Highlights Need for MPA

Header image: Carlos Mallo
OSA PENINSULA, COSTA RICA (December 2nd, 2021)

Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula is one of the most visited places in the country and is well-loved among naturalists and photographers. National Geographic has described this marine ecosystem as “the most biologically intense place on Earth”. Costa Rica’s waters here are traversed by creatures like humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran), sea turtles (Chelonioidea) and rays (Mobula birostris). This marine corridor encompasses a diverse cluster of ecosystems that are all essential for the survival of marine life, including the coral reefs of Caño Island and one of the largest wetlands of the Pacific coast of Central America. Unfortunately, it is also a place that has felt the impacts of industrial fishing – problems that could be mitigated through an expanded marine protected area (MPA) that encompasses the existing MPAs in the area.…

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Ancestors of Whale Sharks in Panama May Come from Distant Waters

Genetic population connectivity study of the endangered whale shark in Pacific Panama provides important data for conservation efforts.
By Leila Nilipour, photos by Candy K. Real
Spanish translation below.

The world’s largest fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), is a plankton-loving giant that can be found alone or in groups in all tropical oceans. However, despite being a highly migratory species, little is known about how the different populations worldwide interact with each other. This lack of knowledge hinders conservation efforts aimed at protecting this endangered animal. Héctor Guzmán, a marine biologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, alongside Caitlin Beaver of the US Geological Survey and Edgardo Díaz-Ferguson of Coiba Scientific Station, set out to start bridging this knowledge gap.…

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Announcing the 2022 Ocean Lovers Festival at the Sydney Coast Hope Spot

By Noah Ritchie
2019 marked the congruent launch of the Sydney Coast Hope Spot and Ocean Lovers Festival in New South Wales, Australia. The festival is a 4-day event that includes live entertainment, art, technology, science, and other avenues to show the myriad ways ocean lovers can make a difference. Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restricted the festival in 2020 and postponed their expected return this fall, the festival is looking to make an exuberant comeback this coming March of 2022!
What is Ocean Lovers Festival and how did it start?
Festival founder Anita Kolni says this idea started with her considering “how to come up with a way to share hope and solutions for the ocean in a time where people feel a lot of despair.”…

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Whale Week, Building a Corridor of Consciousness for Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales in Savannah, GA

By: CJ O’Brien, Whale Week Program Manager, 317-220-9302,

The coastal town of Savannah, Georgia is preparing for the most wonderful time of the year and that’s North Atlantic right whale calving season! Every late November through April, North Atlantic right whales travel nearly 1,000 miles to warmer waters where they give birth just fifteen miles off the Georgia coast. 
 
 
This Georgia coast, including the Georgia Continental Shelf and Blake Plateau was named a Mission Blue Hope Spot in 2019, advocating for increased protections of these whales who have been heavily hunted for more than 900 years and have yet to recover from the pressures of historic whaling. There are now only about 340 right whales in the current population, with as few as 100 reproductive females.…

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Laamu Atoll Hope Spot in Maldives Highlights Harmony Between Marine Conservation and Economic Development

Photo: Joel Penner
LAAMU ATOLL, MALDIVES (OCTOBER 28TH,  2021)

Marked by a continuous 130km reef, the Laamu Atoll is found in southern-central Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Laamu’s striking marine habitats have been a focal point for conservation and research within the atoll’s biologically unique and valuable seagrass meadows, isolated inner reef formations and mangroves since the opening Six Senses Laamu resort in 2011.
 
 
Laamu Atoll has been declared a Hope Spot by international marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue in recognition of Six Senses Laamu’s work in demonstrating sustainable ecotourism practices and creating the framework for scalable marine conservation methods to help shape a healthy future for generations to come in the Maldives.
Dr. Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue, says, “To look back to 2011 when Six Senses began collecting information, to now as we’re celebrating the designation of the atoll as a Hope Spot – it’s truly a reason for hope.…

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Newly Declared Wotho Atoll Hope Spot in Marshall Islands Championed by Minister of Education and High School Biology Teacher

Header image: Kudo Kabua
WOTHO ATOLL, MARSHALL ISLANDS (September 14th, 2021)

In the middle of the central Pacific Ocean lies the Wotho Atoll, a string of 13 islands in the Republic of Marshall Islands. Beyond its idyllic coastal breeze, Wotho is known locally for its beautiful beaches, turtle nesting sites, extensive bird populations and colorful corals. The atoll is also very remote – as one of the least inhabited of the Marshall Islands, Wotho is home to just 90 Marshallese.
 
 
Wotho Atoll has been declared a Hope Spot by international marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue. Kitlang Kabua, Minister of Education of the Marshall Islands and Matthew Gerber, local high school biology teacher, are the Hope Spot Champions and have received approval from the King and Land Owner to dedicate the entire atoll for protection and conservation. …

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A Win for the Ocean! Timber Port Plans Rejected at Kangaroo Island North Coast Hope Spot

Photo: Smith Bay (c) Phyll Bartram, Hope Spot Champion
Kangaroo Island, Australia (August 2021)

The application submitted to build a deep-water port facility at Smith Bay, Australia by Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) has been rejected by Vickie Chapman, Minister for Planning and Local Government. Chapman quoted  potential long-term and irreversible impacts on the environment, local business and character of Kangaroo Island in her decision.
“I am aware my decision will have an impact on the local timber industry, and I can assure South Australians that I will continue to search for a sustainable solution for this industry on Kangaroo Island,” Chapman said.
Tony Bartram, Champion of Kangaroo Island North Coast Hope Spot, shares his support of the decision. “Through a multi-year campaign we sought to educate at multiple levels about the beautiful blue space we have – the oceans – in the hope of informing decision-making processes.…

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Young Marine Conservationist Champions the Fish Rock Hope Spot in New South Wales to Protect Critically Endangered Grey Nurse Sharks

Header image: Justin Gilligan
SOUTH WEST ROCKS, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA (AUGUST 24TH,  2021)

A five hour drive north of Sydney, New South Wales, is South West Rocks, a coastal town that just 5,000 people call home. Below the surface of its sandy beaches and picturesque pine trees is a 125-meter long underwater tunnel with its own unique ecosystem that supports a habitat for the critically endangered grey nurse shark. Local SCUBA diver and ocean conservationist Shalise Leesfield has a goal to establish a 1500m radius marine protected area at Fish Rock to protect these sharks and hundreds of other marine species that call the underwater tunnel home. Leesfield hopes that the recognition of the Fish Rock Hope Spot will bring to light the condition of Australia’s Grey Nurse shark population and the lack of support awarded to their recovery.…

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