fbpixel Galapagos Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Mission Blue

Blog Archives
The Pandemic Put Tourism to the Galápagos Islands on Pause. As a New Hope Spot, What’s In Store for a More Sustainable Future?

Featured image: Kip Evans
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN (OCTOBER 29TH, 2020)

Tourism has been the main industry in the Galápagos Islands for the 25,000 people who live across the five inhabited islands. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the flow of tourists has stopped – along with many islanders’ source of income. Scientists and conservationists have long considered the protection of the Galápagos Islands to be in need of a second look thanks to recent studies that show complex migration patterns connecting sharks and other creatures of the Galápagos to Cocos, Malpelo and Coiba islands. During a time of global shut-down and rapid change, now may be time for momentum towards greater protection for not only the Galápagos Islands but of the entire Eastern Pacific Ocean.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
Environmental Groups Urge Costa Rica and Ecuador to Create World’s First Bilateral Marine Protected Area

Featured image by Nonie Silver
ECUADOR, AUGUST 28TH, 2020

Environmental groups Mission Blue and Turtle Island Restoration Network called on the Ministers of Environment of Costa Rica and Ecuador today to move forward in creating one of the world’s first marine protected areas connecting the UNESCO biosphere reserves of two countries.
The letter urges that Costa Rica and Ecuador act quickly to create the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, a 240,000 square-kilometer underwater highway that connects the National Parks of two sovereign nations — Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park with Ecuador’s Galapagos Marine Reserve — both of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Scientific research in the Eastern Tropical Pacific conducted by a network of organizations known as MigraMar revealed endangered and threatened marine species like whale sharks, green sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles, silky sharks, and scalloped hammerhead sharks use this swimway to migrate between the marine reserves.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
Exploring the Galápagos Islands with Dr. Sylvia Earle

By Elisa Cassiani

 
As a 17-year-old living in Napa, CA, my experience with the natural world was pretty conventional – dogs, cats, deer, squirrels. Although I have traveled to beautiful destinations in the past, they were generally established civilizations where wildlife wasn’t at the forefront. When my mom told me that I might be able to accompany her on an expedition to the Galápagos, I lunged at the opportunity. The trip was only a week away, but we managed to pull it together and get me ready for the experience of a lifetime.
Within the first hour of arriving, I got my first glimpse into the Galápagos, which is a Mission Blue Hope Spot. My mom works for Mission Blue, Dr.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

1 Comment
Dive into the Mysterious Deep-Sea Ecosystems of the Galápagos

By Salome Buglass
Featured image: Salome Buglass and Dr. Sylvia Earle hold up kelp samples during a dive near Isabela Island, Galapagos National Park (c) Kip Evans, Mission Blue.
The Spanish version can be read below.

For almost three years now, as part of the Seamount Research Project at the Charles Darwin Foundation and working in collaboration with the Galápagos National Park Directorate, we have been investigating deep-sea ecosystems in the Galápagos Archipelago. It’s been an immense privilege, as our research group is among the first to explore and describe life in the deep, dark and remote spaces of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. It is also very exciting work, as we are constantly discovering new marine species for the Galápagos as well as for science.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
Working with the Largest Fish in the Ocean to Protect Migratory Species in the Eastern Pacific Seascape Hope Spot

The Spanish version can be read below.

The distinctive, rattling noise of an underwater noisemaker grabs the attention of the divers, and they quickly scan for the source of the sound: Dr. Alex Hearn. He is easy to spot, not only for his yellow tank but the exaggerated pointing. Before long the source of Dr. Hearn’s excitement is revealed. It’s a whale shark, about 12 meters (~40ft) in length cruising along above the reef off Darwin Island, one of the most remote, and recently protected islands in the Galápagos archipelago. 
Like nearly all the whale sharks that pass through the Galápagos Islands, this whale shark is an adult female and she will only stay for a few days before continuing her migration through the Eastern Pacific Seascape Hope Spot.…

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

Leave a comment
A Hope Spot Expedition Heads to the Tropical Eastern Pacific’s Enchanted Galápagos Islands

The Spanish version can be read below.

In the equatorial Eastern Pacific, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, lies an active volcanic archipelago that is like nowhere else on earth. Early Spanish sailors called these islands the Enchanted Isles because of the strong currents that pulled ships off course and heavy mist that caused the islands to “disappear”. Though the name was not initially intended to be a compliment, “enchanted” is still an apt description for this seemingly-magical geological and biological hotspot, now called the Galápagos Islands.
The 19 islands and dozens of islets that make up the Galápagos archipelago were all formed by volcanic activity, a hot spot where intense heat from the Earth’s mantle forced the crust of the Nazca Plate, an oceanic tectonic plate, upward.…

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

Leave a comment
Worlds First Marine Migratory Species Hope Spot Declared Between Cocos and the Galápagos Islands

The Spanish version can be read below

THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEAN (MAY 12th, 2020) –
What could become one of the first bi-national marine protected areas in the world has been declared a Hope Spot by the organization Mission Blue. This initiative connects the UNESCO biosphere reserves of two countries, highlighting the need to implement cutting-edge solutions to protect highly migratory species, such as sea turtles and sharks in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.
 

 
Known as the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, this Hope Spot is a 120,000-kilometer migratory underwater highway that connects the National Parks of two sovereign nations – Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park with Ecuador’s Galapagos Marine Reserve – both of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
 

 
Dr.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
An Island of Hope for the Ocean’s Future

By: Sebastian Nicholls, Colombian Ocean Advocate and Mission Blue Volunteer
Spanish version is included below.

“We are in the port of Buenaventura, on the Pacific Coast of Colombia, and we are ready to go to Malpelo,” Sandra Bessudo tells us, as the crew readies the ship to depart. “36 hours and we’ll be there.” 
 
 
Sandra is the Hope Spot Champion for Malpelo, the island we were getting ready to explore. She led efforts to protect the waters around Malpelo Island, which harbors amazing reef and open-ocean ecosystems chock-full of life. Through her tireless efforts, Malpelo became a Mission Blue Hope Spot in 2016.
 

 
 
 
Sandra founded the Malpelo and Other Marine Ecosystems Foundation, Mission Blue’s science partner for our expedition to the site, twenty years ago.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, mission blue, Partner Stories, Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
World Heritage Marine Sites & Our Fight for Healthy Oceans

We are proud to partner with Kristin Hetterman! Kristin was on board the National Geographic Endeavor in the Galápagos Islands for the Third World Heritage Marine Managers Conference, held August 27-31, 2016. 
By: Kristin Hettermann

Since the first marine site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982, 49 sites in 37 countries stretching from the tropics to the poles have received this prestigious designation as an irreplaceable wonder of the world’s oceans. Yet these unique places are facing unprecedented challenges and change. Right now, more than 15 World Heritage marine sites are suffering from serious coral bleaching and a third of all World Heritage marine sites are still unsustainably or illegally fished. From August 27-31, the guardians of the 49 World Heritage marine sites gathered from around the world in the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor for UNESCO’s Third World Heritage Marine Managers Conference, looking to share resources and find smart solutions.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, Partner Stories |

Leave a comment
Underwater in the Galápagos: A Lesson in Human Connection

By: Danielle Epifani, Mission Blue Communications Assistant 

After months of reporting imagery and articles of undersea life, I had the unique opportunity to join a seven day liveaboard with the Aggressor III, as a Mission Blue Hope Spot reporter. Throughout my childhood, I alternated between swimming in the ocean of Southern California, my neighbor’s pool, and the crystal clear lagoons and reef passes of my ancestral islands, in French Polynesia. I thought I had experienced the sea: it’s wonder, beauty, and the urgent need for marine protection.
Learning to scuba dive in one of the world’s legendary dive sites had not quite registered with me. However, the unfathomable statistic that the ocean has lost 90 percent of its big fish, ignited a sense of urgency.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, mission blue |

1 Comment