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Azores Archipelago Protects Thirty Percent of Waters

Cover image © Andy Mann
PONTA DELGADA, AZORES, PORTUGAL — The Autonomous Region of the Azores is making waves in marine conservation by establishing the largest network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the North Atlantic. This historic initiative safeguards 30% of the marine environment surrounding the Azores Archipelago, covering an impressive 287,000 square kilometers.
Mission Blue recognized the waters of the Azores Archipelago as a Hope Spot in 2021, advocating for a coherent network of marine protected areas extending from the surface to the deep seafloor. The Azores Archipelago began their efforts with marine protection in the 1980s, evolving through joint collaboration among government, universities, and local communities. The Blue Azores program, launched in 2019 from a partnership between the Regional Government of the Azores, the Oceano Azul Foundation and the Waitt Institute, and the University of the Azores, has contributed to significant advances in marine conservation in the region.…

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Recording & Resources: Diving in Deep, Mining the High Seas – A Panel Discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle

Thank you for joining us for Diving in Deep: Mining the High Seas – A Panel Discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle on June 20th, 2023! 
To stay up-to-date on future Mission Blue virtual events, bookmark our Events page and subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
In this roundtable discussion, moderator Carl Lundin, Advisor, Mission Blue, guided the conversation with Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Sandor Mulsow, Vasser Seydel, and Sian Owen about deep-sea mining in the high seas, and what we are risking by exploiting this largely unexplored living system.
 

You can also view “Deep Trouble” with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Yo-Yo Ma below:

Our Panelists:
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue and National Geographic Explorer in Residence

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High Seas Treaty Reached at United Nations in Historic Deal

Featured image: Sargassum floating in the Sargasso Sea, located in the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, high seas. The Sargasso Sea is one of Mission Blue’s Hope Spots located in the high seas © Philippe Rouja
(UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK) – 
After two decades of ongoing discussion, United Nations delegates from 193 nations reached a historic agreement on March 4th, 2023 to protect marine biodiversity and address climate change in international waters, also known as the “high seas”. The high seas refers to approximately 2/3rds of the world’s oceans that are not within any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), leaving such waters vulnerable to damaging fishing and other extractive practices. 
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, says, “This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health, now and for generations to come.”…

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

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New Champion of the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone Hope Spot Urges Comprehensive Protection of the High Seas

Featured image: Deepsea lizard fish (Bathysaurus ferox) found in the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone (c) David Shale 
HIGH SEAS, MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ) is part of the high seas and the deep sea often referred to as a “living library”, brimming with understudied and unobserved creatures. The fracture zone is of great scientific interest and a unique geological feature. In 2018, it was identified as the area in the deep North Atlantic with the highest potential for climate change resilience (Johnson et al., 2018). While only being discovered in 1966, the fracture zone has since been recognized as part of the OSPAR Convention’s High Seas MPA (marine protected area) network, comprising two MPAs that together protect elements of the seafloor and the water column.…

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New Hope Spot Champions for the Costa Rica Thermal Dome Emphasize Need for Sustainable High Seas Management

Featured image: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) (c) Fundación MarViva
Costa Rica, Tropical Pacific Ocean

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome (CRTD) is considered a deeply important place in the high seas of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETPO). Here, strong upwelling events provide high concentrations of nutrients for creatures like blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), and giant manta rays (Mobula birostris). (Broenkow, 1965; Jiménez, 2016). Megafauna like sea turtles rely on these waters to migrate and mate. As the Dome is located in the high seas, no one country holds claim to it – nor can protect the threatened marine life within. However, the new Hope Spot Champions have bigger plans for the Dome.…

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New Hope Spot Champions of the Sargasso Sea to Conduct First Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis of a High Seas System

Featured image: Philippe Rouja free diving under Sargassum in Challenger Banks, Bermuda (c) David Doubilet
SARGASSO SEA, NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 11th, 2022)

Often referred to as “the floating golden rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean”, the Sargasso Sea covers an impressive two million square miles of water. It has no land boundaries: rather, the area of the Sargasso Sea is defined by the whirling grasp of major currents within the North Atlantic Gyre. Vast mats of sun-soaked, free-floating yellow Sargassum seaweed bob at the surface under distinctively calm air. 
 
 
The Sargasso Sea is a high seas ecosystem – it lies outside of the boundaries of any country. The high seas make up more than 60% of the ocean and while they possess deeply important biological diversity, they remain some of the least protected places on the planet.…

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UN Meeting Offers Hope for High Seas Protection

Things are looking up for the high seas after last week’s deliberations at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President of the United Nations General Assembly Sam Kahamba Kutesa convened a meeting with States Members of the United Nations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for four days of negotiations concerning the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The meeting concluded early Saturday morning with a formal recommendation for the UN General Assembly to develop a legally binding agreement to protect ocean life in the high seas.
The high seas make up approximately 64% of the global ocean (nearly half of Earth’s surface) – a huge patchwork of regions lying outside of any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).…

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BREAKING: Dr. Sylvia Earle Boldly Addresses the UN To Urge Legal Protection for High Seas

Dr. Sylvia Earle addressed the United Nations Tuesday afternoon, urging the body to take action and implement an agreement that would bring law and order to the High Seas — an area half the size of our planet that is currently plundered and polluted with abandon.
Read Dr. Sylvie Earle’s bold remarks below. She’s right: the ten year olds are watching!
Thank you,  Co-Chairs, for the privilege of speaking officially on behalf of Mission Blue, and unofficially, for those who cannot speak for themselves – the children of today and for  all of those in the future – our descendants who will from their place in the future either applaud or condemn our actions – or lack of actions – concerning establishing governance – a strong and meaningful implementing agreement under UNCLOS for biodiversity of half the world, the high seas – the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. …

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Five Ocean Critters to Hope For in the New Year

As we look to the New Year, we’re taking time to think about ocean critters that inspire us to be hopeful. From the thousands of sharks that have been spared from finning due to recent bans in Asia to coral species that may be able to withstand ocean acidification, sea creatures big and small give us pause and merit our attention. Here’s a list of five animals that especially deserve our hope in the coming year:
Blue Whale
As the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale is one impressive cetacean! This long, slender marine mammal goes by the Latin name of Balaenoptera musculus, and has a heart that weighs 600 kilograms. Whalers hunted the endangered blue whale to near extinction for over a century until this practice was banned in 1966.…

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World Parks Congress in Australia Unites Global Ocean Leaders

By Courtney Mattison
On a warm summer afternoon in Australia last Wednesday, thousands of environmental researchers, advocates, policy makers and business leaders gathered in a great hall within the Sydney Olympic Park for the opening ceremonies of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress. Delegates from around the globe watched as world-class acrobats flew through the air and dancers in vibrant costumes portrayed a story about inspiring future generations to protect the environment. Aboriginal performances and protocols highlighted the rich cultural context of the host country of this meeting, which only comes around once a decade and is held in a different country each time.
IUCN President Mr. Zhang Xinsheng, Australian federal and state environmental ministers and Nelson Mandela’s grandson addressed the congress.…

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