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Spitsbergen Beneath the Surface

By Courtney Mattison for Mission Blue

Imagine rolling backwards off an inflatable boat into icy Arctic waters… on purpose. Enveloped in protective gear, you stay mostly dry as the cold sinks into your body and you descend into the frigid depths below.
“The first thing that hits you is just the shock of the cold,” says Dr. Helena Reinardy, Associate Professor of Ecotoxicology at The University Centre Svalbard (UNIS) and member of the Longyearbyen Dive Club. She continues, “You think, I’ve got to get out right now!… But then you very quickly get used to it.”
Beneath the waves, you find yourself immersed in planktonic life, including some surprisingly large zooplankton—pulsing golden green jellies the size of marbles, skittering shrimplike amphipods and graceful sea angels (Clione limacina).…

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Critically Endangered Goliath Groupers, Hope for Sharks and the State of Our Corals

By: Angela Smith, Shark Team One

The world spoke and Florida state conservation managers listened regarding the fate of the goliath grouper in Florida waters! The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted on April 26 to save the goliath grouper instead of opening up a potentially devasting fish and kill lottery on these iconic fish. Goliath groupers are critically endangered worldwide so the decision to not allow catch and kill was highly important for their continued recovery in Florida. These fish are classic apex predators, large, rare and only a few individuals occur on any given reef, so they are very important to the ecosystem.
Goliath groupers do not have federal endangered species protection status yet, so the issue to catch and kill goliaths could come up again, but for the foreseeable future the fate of the goliath grouper is safe and the Coastal Southeast Florida Hope Spot community was a driving force in their protection.…

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Stories From the Ice

By Courtney Mattison for Mission Blue

If you’ve never experienced an iceberg before, you might assume that they are silent, bobbing solitarily in the ocean. In reality icebergs can be loud, crackling and popping, crunching and even rolling into one another. When a glacier expands and “calves,” it makes an explosive “bang” as a giant chunk falls off into the water, forming a new iceberg.
Ride an inflatable Zodiac among them and the sounds grow, emanating from tiny air bubbles trapped thousands of years ago and then suddenly released into the air around you. Floating ice such as this and sea ice—ice formed directly from frozen seawater—provides platforms for seals and seabirds to rest, sunbathe and catch fish. Polar bears, the Arctic’s top natural predator, rely on sea ice to hunt seals.…

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Declaration of Jæren Coast Hope Spot in Norway Emphasizes Ocean Conservation and Ecotourism Over Oil Extraction

STAVANGER, NORWAY (June 16th, 2018) – While Norway has a leading role in the international oil industry and underwater technology, there are significant gaps in Norwegians’ knowledge of their own coastal marine ecosystems. In an effort to highlight the vibrancy of the local marine environment and as well as the threat that oil extraction presents to ecosystem integrity, Mission Blue has declared a Hope Spot at the Jæren Coast on the southwestern coast of Norway. The Hope Spot is championed locally by the Rachel Carson Prize, an organization dedicated to enhancing the legacy of Rachel Carson, the mother of the modern environmental movement. Dr. Sylvia Earle, the founder of Mission Blue, visited the Jæren Coast last year along with scientists and Norwegian policymakers, in order to bring more awareness to this rich marine ecosystem and also to accept the 2017 Rachel Carson prize.…

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Mission Blue Launches First Arctic Expedition to the Svalbard Archipelago Hope Spot!

Rachel Krasna

Imagine journeying all the way to the Arctic only to find nothing, just sheer barren cold desert leading into the open blue. That scenario is not so far fetched lately, as scientists start to struggle with the reality of the melting Arctic landscape. With increasingly warmer waters and temperature rising, the Arctic could face ice-free periods each summer by 2050. This poses grave concern for countless species and biota that call this ecosystem home, particularly in one of the Mission Blue Hope Spots – the Svalbard Archipelago. Why should we care? Arctic sea ice is critical for wildlife, and also helps regulate the planet’s temperature. Recent studies also say that Arctic sea ice — and the lack of it — can impact natural weather patterns in distant areas like the United States (USA Today, 4/3/18).…

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Announcing Two New Mission Blue Board Members!

We are pleased to announce the addition of two new members to the Board of Directors, Mr. Will Travis and Mr. John Vermilye. Mr. Travis and Mr. Vermilye bring a wealth of experience and expertise in their fields and will be tremendous assets to our Board as we further our mission to inspire action to explore and protect the ocean. “We at Mission Blue are deeply honored to welcome Will and John to the Board of Directors,” says Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder and Chairman of Mission Blue. “They each bring deep business knowledge, a passion for ocean conservation and an unique vision for an ambitious future for Mission Blue.”

Will Travis is creative industry leader and a respected global brand builder.…

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Varadero’s Coral Reef off the Colombian Coast at Cartagena is Designated a Hope Spot

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA (April 23rd, 2018) – Varadero´s Coral Reef, a dynamic marine ecosystem in the Bay of Cartagena, has been declared a Hope Spot by international non-profit Mission Blue. The reef has a paradoxical existence, harboring high coral cover and diversity despite the poor water quality and sediments discharged during the last 500 years by the Canal del Dique, a 118 square kilometer canal connecting Cartagena Bay to the Magdalena River. Varadero´s Reef which has drawn special interest from the local scientific community, is now being thrust into the international conservation spotlight as a Mission Blue Hope Spot. The persistence of the Varadero´s Reef is currently threatened by a project to modernize Cartagena’s port, not only by the direct damage produced by the dredging of a new shipping lane through the reef, but also by the deterioration of water conditions associated with the operation and maintenance of the channel.…

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Dr. Sylvia Earle Names Palmyra Atoll a ‘Hope Spot’ for the World’s Ocean

Palmyra Atoll, a place so remote it was once proposed as a nuclear waste site, has been named a “Hope Spot” by Mission Blue, a non-profit coalition dedicated to creating a global network of marine protected areas that give the world’s oceans respite from human impacts and a chance to recover and flourish. As a Mission Blue Hope Spot, Palmyra Atoll is now squarely in the international spotlight and Mission Blue and her partners are dedicated to communicating all successes and continuing threats to the area on a global level.
“Palmyra’s spectacular marine environment is a reminder of what our coral reefs should look like,” said Dr. Sylvia Earle, the legendary ocean explorer and marine biologist who founded Mission Blue. “Its remote Pacific location, its history of wildlife recovery and restoration, and the level of protection as a national wildlife refuge and marine national monument it receives make it ideal for scientific study and a beacon of hope for coral reefs everywhere.”…

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Pokémon GO Earth Day Clean Up Events to Bring Trainers Together in Locations Around the World

SAN FRANCISCO – April 4, 2018 – Niantic, Inc. and Playmob are teaming up to host the first ever Pokémon GO Earth Day Clean Up on April 22. The Pokémon GO Earth Day Clean Up initiative is a series of events that will take place across locations around the world, inviting the Pokémon GO community to join together to clean up the environment and their local areas. Trainers will also have an opportunity to donate to the Mission Blue Foundation, a global coalition united to inspire public awareness, access and support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas.
The Pokémon GO Earth Day Clean Up events will be hosted by Niantic and local NGOs around the world, with coordination implemented by Playmob, the gaming-for-good organization, in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations in each community.…

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International Attention Turns to the Humboldt Archipelago, Now Declared a Mission Blue Hope Spot

CHANARAL DE ACEITUNO, CHILE (April 3rd, 2018) – The Humboldt Archipelago has been declared a Hope Spot by international non-profit Mission Blue in recognition that the area is one of the most bio-diverse and ecologically important parts of the Chilean coast and the southeast Pacific. The Humboldt Archipelago is the finest example of Humboldt Current kelp forests in the world, and is home to 80% of the world’s endangered Humboldt penguin population, as well as many other sea birds species, sea lions, sea otters, dolphins and orca. It is also a summer feeding ground for endangered blue, fin and humpback whales. The Humboldt Archipelago contains ancestral fishing grounds for local communities and is a growing pole for ecotourism, backed by a community that calls for sustainable development and education.…

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