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Panama Adopts the Saboga National Wildlife Refuge, Protecting Critical Sea Turtle Habitat and Upholding the Rights of Nature

Cover image © Callie Broaddus
[PANAMA CITY, PANAMA] On September 12, 2024, the Minister of the Environment of Panama, Juan Carlos Navarro, signed a Ministerial Decree No. DM-0631-2024, (Gaceta No. 30122-A, 19 September 2024) designating the Saboga National Wildlife Refuge, an almost 86 square kilometer area including 10 islands and islets of the Pearl Islands Archipelago.
The Pearl Islands Archipelago is a collection of over 240 islands and islets and 3,188 beaches, located in the Gulf of Panama, approximately 48 kilometers off the Pacific Coast of Panama. This Archipelago has an impressive marine species richness and diversity that has yet to be fully discovered, studied, and recognized for its importance within the Latin American region and around the globe. It provides, at least currently or historically, a breeding ground for four sea turtle species: hawksbill, green, leatherback, and olive ridley sea turtles.…

Posted in hope spots, mission blue, Panama, Partner Stories, turtles |

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We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

Ricardo Cisneros and I joined Hector Guzman’s science team over at the Sea Hunter ship just in time to see them pull up the collected specimens from the morning science exploration dive. Collected by a manipulator arm around 200 meters depth, Hector placed the specimens into white trays for further analysis. There were corals, tube worms, black coral, a sea pen, bryozoans, pink stylaster coral, a brittle star, and a black solitary cup coral. 

After sub dive training and a review of a 3-d terrain model of Hannibal Bank, where Hector pointed out what we’d next be first exploring ever, Ricardo and I donned our jumpsuits and prepared to get in the sub. Ricardo was filled with great enthusiasm, as it was his first sub dive ever and he never thought he’d get to be a real aquanaut!…

Posted in Coiba, Dr. Sylvia Earle, national geographic, Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute |

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