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Dr. Sylvia Earle Injects Ocean Issues into Climate Talks at COP21

Dr. Sylvia Earle, the world’s leading oceanographer, Mission Blue founder/chairman and National Geographic Explorer in Residence, has confirmed her attendance at the COP21 climate talks in Paris. The objective of Dr. Earle’s visit is to inject ocean conservation issues into the climate debate; the ocean isn’t officially on the agenda of COP21 this year, even though it is the planet’s primary driver of climate, weather and chemistry. Dr. Earle will join world-renowned primatologist and environmentalist, Dr. Jane Goodall, on December 7th from 10:30AM to 11:00AM for a “Tapestry of Hope” conversation event with the UN Foundation at Le Petit Palais (Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris, France). The two legendary female scientists will discuss efforts to abate climate change both on land, as part of Dr.…

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Costa Rica Is Not Doing Enough to Protect Diminished Shark Populations

After the Mission Blue expedition to Cocos Island this past spring, we’ve been shining a spotlight on the unfortunate overfishing of sharks in Costa Rica’s waters. We took a moment this past week to catch up with our valued partners at Marviva, who are based in Costa Rica and have been fierce advocates for marine conservation and sensible policy.
MB: How’s the situation on the ground?
Marviva:  The situation with shark finning in the country has gotten worse even though the amount of sharks that have been landed and exported has been reduced in the last 5 years, from about 900 metric tons of 350 metric tons per year.
It is still a very worrisome problem for a few reasons. First, there is not good control on what has been landed and where it comes from.…

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Restoring Coral Ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico Hope Spot

by Courtney Mattison

Two new studies provide evidence that the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster has harmed coral ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico’s mesophotic or “twilight” zone along a series of deep-water rocky reefs known as the Pinnacle Trend. Located approximately 200-300 feet below the surface at the edge of the continental shelf of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, this region’s mesophotic (or “middle light”) zone supports vibrant fish, coral and sponge communities in the Gulf. 
In their latest study published last month in the journal Coral Reefs, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Florida State University, and JHT Inc. compared the health of corals on hard-bottom mesophotic reefs before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster using video footage and images taken by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).…

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Double-hulled Sailing Canoe Crosses the Globe and Lands at False Bay Hope Spot in South Africa

Hōkūleʻa, the incredible wind-powered circumnavigation conducted by Mission Blue partner Pacific Voyaging Society, has recently reached the shores of South Africa, halfway around the world from her home in Hawaiʻi. On November 10th, the sailing canoe pulled into False Bay, a Mission Blue Hope Spot, after having rounded the southernmost point of Africa. Ranging from Cape Point to Cape Hangklip near Cape Town, South Africa, False Bay is an area of dense kelp forests. Part of the False Bay Hope Spot is reserved as a marine protected area and no take zone, creating a sanctuary for large reef fish, abalone and small sharks. Fishing pressure in unprotected parts of False Bay is significant and pollution is also an issue in the area.…

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Dr. Sylvia Earle Announces First Hope Spot in Mediterranean

Mission Blue and Asociación Ondine Partner to Protect Balearic Islands

Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder and Chairman of the Sylvia Earle Alliance (S.E.A.) and Mission Blue, has named the Balearic Islands a Hope Spot—a special place worth safeguarding as a marine protected area for its importance to the health of the Mediterranean Sea.
The announcement came during Dr. Earle and the Mission Blue team’s visit to Mallorca from November 10-12 in collaboration with Asociación Ondine and with the support of Stefan and Irina Hearst. Dr. Earle gave a lecture outlining the main aspects of her Mission Blue Hope Spots initiative at the Hotel St. Regis Mardavall upon announcing the new Hope Spot. She said:
This is the first part of the Mediterranean that has been designated as a Hope Spot, so why not use this as a springboard—as evidence of what caring can yield—an idea worth spreading.…

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Mission Blue II Voyage: A Resounding Success in Calling for More Ocean Protection

Exploring over 1,500 miles of vibrant ocean in the South Pacific this past month, the Mission Blue II Voyage marked an important milestone for 21st century ocean conservation and underscored support at the highest levels for Hope Spots, Mission Blue’s flagship initiative. Aboard the 340-foot National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions Orion, world leading marine scientists, conservationists, policy makers, researchers, technologists and influencers traveled along the Pacific Equator from Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands and participated in an ocean symposium hosted and filmed by TED. Dr. Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue, was as much a part of the onboard brainstorming as the underwater exploration that led to amazing finds like the ancient, oversized coral above.
In her TED filmed talk aboard the Mission Blue II Voyage, which will be made available at a later date, Dr.…

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Speak Up for the Ocean at Climate Negotiations

This winter, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris will feature one of the largest gatherings of world leaders to ever address global warming. The stage is set for all United Nations member states to come together and create an international agreement on the climate with the goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
Yet the largest factor in our climate cycle isn’t on the COP21 agenda: the ocean.
The ocean is a massive carbon sink that has absorbed nearly half of all human-produced CO2 since the Industrial Revolution. Climate experts warn that the ocean’s ability to absorb so much CO2 may soon hit a tipping point, with the ocean becoming saturated and thus unable to keep this greenhouse gas from rapidly accumulating in the atmosphere, acidifying the sea and throwing climate change into overdrive.…

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Global Coral Bleaching Event puts Reefs at Risk

By Courtney Mattison

Researchers announced this month that a massive global coral bleaching event is jeopardizing the health of coral reefs around the world, and the crisis is still heating up. A triple threat of climate change, El Niño and a climate change-induced “warm blob” in the Pacific is causing the ocean to reach unusually high temperatures, stressing the coral animals that build reefs—the cradles of tropical marine life—and causing them to bleach, a stress response that often causes corals to starve, sicken and die. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have gathered evidence suggesting that about 12% of reefs worldwide have already bleached in the last year, and predict that nearly half of those affected (over 12,000 square kilometers, or over 5% of reefs) could disappear forever.…

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Regulators Empower Fishing Interests in the Bering Sea Hope Spot

We bring sad news today. At a recent meeting in Alaska, fishing regulators voted to kill the Bering Sea Initiative, which sought to bring protection from trawling to vast deep-water canyons that contained 50-85% of all the coral in the region. In partnership with Greenpeace, the Mission Blue community had petitioned the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) for years to consider the clear scientific evidence provided to them and make commonsense protections for the Bering Sea canyons. Their own scientists even concurred, specifically pointing out Pribilof canyon as a coral hot spot in the Bering Sea. Still, the Council rejected science, supported the fishing industry and trawling remains open for business in waters that contain cascading ridges of centuries-old corals, sea sponges and a host of other marine life – a silent, slow-motion underwater tragedy.…

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Marine Protection in the Spotlight at Our Ocean Conference

By Courtney Mattison Hope was in the air during this week’s Our Ocean Conference in Valparaiso, Chile, where over 400 government leaders, researchers and ocean conservation advocates gathered for two days to make and support commitments to protect marine biodiversity. Seeking solutions to illegal fishing, marine plastic pollution, ocean acidification and climate change, Our Ocean 2015 focused on encouraging the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool to regulate harmful human activities that threaten ocean health.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet led the way in announcing the establishment of the Nazca-Desventuradas marine park—which will cover a surface area of more than 297,000 square kilometers (over 114,000 square miles) surrounding the San Ambrosio and San Felix islands—and a commitment to create a second marine protected area encompassing over 600,000 square kilometers around Easter Island.…

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