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Atlantic’s First Marine National Monument!

 
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
 
FACT SHEET: President Obama to Continue Global Leadership in Combatting Climate Change and Protecting Our Ocean by Creating the First Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean
 

 
Today, President Obama will designate the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, protecting fragile
deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The new national monument – which encompasses pristine underwater mountains and canyons – will provide critical protections for important ecological resources and marine species, including deep-sea coral and endangered whales and sea turtles. 
President Obama will make this announcement in remarks today at the 3rd annual Our Ocean Conference in Washington D.C.…

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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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Expeditions to the Mergui Archipelago

Exploring and preserving this unique Mission Blue “Hope Spot” in Myanmar
From Mission Blue partners Project Manaia:

Mergui Archipelago Biodiversity Research (MABR) aims at surveying, understanding, and ultimately protecting the Mergui Archipelago of Southern Myanmar, designated one of Mission Blue’s “Hope Spots.” The Mergui Archipelago spans 800+ pristine, largely uninhabited islands, virtually isolated and in their natural state. Extending along the coast of Myanmar and south to Thailand lies a world waiting to be discovered, harboring undisturbed marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The islands are also home to the world’s last race of sea nomads, the Moken, who for generations have lived as one with the land and their surrounding seas. But this new frontier is at risk from expanding tourism, corporate development, oil, blast fishing and overfishing.…

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Life in the Gulf of California Hope Spot

The Gulf of California, a 700-mile narrow sea between Baja and mainland Mexico, is home to over 800 species of fish, 2000 invertebrates, as well as whales, dolphins, sea turtles and sea lions. The area includes 256,000 hectares of mangroves, 600,000 hectares of wetlands and 70% of Mexican fisheries. Simply put, this area is one of the most productive ocean regions in the world. That is why it is a Mission Blue Hope Spot.
On the recent Mission Blue Hope Spot expedition to the Gulf of California, we had a chance to dive with the local marine life. Since Dr. Sylvia Earle was leading the expedition, we also had the opportunity to compare marine life in the Gulf of California with what it was when Dr.…

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Cashes Ledge: the Gem of New England

Led by Dr. Sylvia Earle, the Mission Blue team recently returned from a Hope Spot Expedition to Cashes Ledge, a pristine biological hotspot off the coast of New England. It contains Ammen Rock, a peak so tall that it disrupts the Gulf of Maine current, creating massive upwellings of cold nutrient-rich water that fuels an explosion of life from plankton and squid to mackerel, tunas, billfish, sharks, seabirds and a high diversity of marine mammals. The area is home to the largest cold water kelp forest on the Atlantic seaboard and provides a nursery for important New England fish species like cod, pollock, Atlantic halibut, and white hake. Check out the map for a better sense where the Cashes Ledge is located.…

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Protect the Grand Canyons of the Ocean

By Courtney Mattison

Hidden below the surface of Alaska’s icy waters lie the world’s largest underwater canyons, both more massive than America’s Grand Canyon. Home to orcas, walrus and fur seals, albatross and kittiwakes, king crab, squid, salmon and coldwater corals, brittle stars and sponges, the continental slope and canyons of the Bering Sea (known as the Bering Sea “Green Belt”) are home to an immense diversity of wildlife. Spanning more than 770,000 square miles between Western Alaska and Russia’s Siberian coast, the Bering Sea is an area of immense ecological value is also the source of more than half of the seafood caught in the United States and is subject to devastating commercial fishing tactics. This week, Mission Blue is launching a petition to urge Alaska’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council to protect the Bering Sea canyons and Green Belt.…

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Mission Blue Hope Spot: The Glorious Gulf of California

Earlier this month Mission Blue launched a Hope Spot expedition to the Gulf of California, a very special area of the world beloved by ocean buffs, surfers, scuba divers and the local communities.The purpose of the Expedition is to shine a light on the beauty of this region and those that are working to protect it. Thanks to jam-packed days connecting with Mexican policy makers, examining the health of local ecosystems and powwowing with marine scientists, we have much to share, including plenty of visual media. Check out the heartwarming greeting we received from a curious sea lion above. How’s that for southern hospitality? (Did you know sea lions like to nibble on your flippers? True story).

(Mission Blue meeting with the director of Mexico’s protected areas.…

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Northern California National Marine Sanctuaries Double in Size

Mission Blue commends the tremendous efforts of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which recently announced greatly expanded reach for ocean conservation in the coastal waters surrounding San Francisco, the home of Mission Blue headquarters. This near doubling in geographic protection comes at a time when the Obama administrator is pursuing a more aggressive ocean conservation agenda, most notably with massive tracts ocean set aside in the US Pacific to be off-limits to fishing, energy extraction and other activities.
Mission Blue and Dr. Sylvia Earle look forward to working with the National Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA in calling public attention to the positive impact the federal government is making on increasing the geographic area of Marine Protected Areas within US jurisdiction.…

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Mysteries of the Galapagos Seafloor Revealed

Ever wonder what the seafloor of the Galápagos looks like? What goes on below the surface around the magnificent cluster of islands that Darwin’s finches and those wonderful giant tortoises call home? Our partners at the Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation went to find out, and the results have captured our imagination.
Using an innovative high-resolution seafloor habitat mapping technique, researchers from the Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) and the National Coral Reef Institute at Nova Southeastern University collected hundreds of underwater videos and over one million depth readings around Baltra, Darwin, Floreana, Isabela, Marchena, Urvina, and Wolf Islands in June 2012 as part of the six-year KSLOF Global Reef Expedition.
Using a method of collecting shallow water surveys called “groundtruthing,” the team covered over 750 square kilometers of seafloor around the Galápagos.…

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Bring Balance to the Bering Sea

By Jackie Dragon (Originally published January 16, 2015 on Greenpeaceblogs.org)
This week in Seattle billboards and posters are popping up with a message for companies that profit from the sale of our ocean wildlife. Greenpeace, Mission Blue, and Marine Conservation Institute — three organizations committed to protecting important ocean places — have joined up to tell supermarkets that we need their help to protect special ocean places, like America’s Grand Canyons in the Sea.
An American gem is hidden from sight beneath the chilly waters of Alaska in the Bering Sea. Zhemchug and Pribilof canyons — designated a Hope Spot by “Her Deepness,” Dr. Sylvia Earle in 2013 — are the world’s largest underwater canyons, both more massive than the Grand Canyon.…

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