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Mission Blue Makes Waves at IMPAC5: A Celebration of Hope Spots and Indigenous Influence

Header image: Dr. Sylvia Earle, IMPAC5 keynote speaker © IISD/ENB 
(VANCOUVER, CANADA) –
From February 3rd-9th, 2023, the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) was co-hosted by the Canadian government and The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This conference brought together policymakers, conservationists, scientists, and stakeholders from around the world to exchange knowledge, experiences, and best practices in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Mission Blue was omnipresent at the Congress, with the Hope Spots program and the influential presence of Dr. Sylvia Earle.
 

 
The event underscored the importance of indigenous influence in ocean conservation, highlighting the invaluable knowledge and practices of indigenous communities. The focus on indigenous perspectives demonstrated a growing recognition of the vital role that traditional knowledge and practices play in marine conservation, acknowledging the need for greater collaboration and understanding between indigenous communities and the broader conservation community.…

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Scuba Diving made Accessible to Every Body throughout Pacific Northwest with S.A.F.E. Scuba

By Chelsea Meier, Creative Partner, S.A.F.E. SCUBA

(HILLSBORO, PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES) – 
Beneath the tranquil blue water of the ocean, there’s a bustling world filled with marine life, coral, and wonder. Those who are disabled may not believe that this world is accessible to them but with S.A.F.E. Scuba, it is.
 
 
S.A.F.E. Scuba is a non-profit organization, based in Hillsboro, Oregon, that trains both divers with disabilities and dive buddies who will accompany them on their adventures. Through their adaptive diving programs, they strive to give those with disabilities the chance to gain the confidence, independence, freedom, and self-esteem that come with the sport of scuba diving. Through adaptive diving, those with disabilities can explore new depths and gain a sense of freedom in the open water.…

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East Antarctic Hope Spot Highlights Ecological Importance and Need for Comprehensive Protection of Marine Life

Featured image: John Weller
(EAST ANTARCTICA) – 
The East Antarctic region is distinctive and dynamic, yet less well understood than other regions of the Antarctic. The remote, extreme, cold areas of East Antarctica remain largely untouched by human intervention. However, increased human activities and associated infrastructure could have long-lasting effects on the environment. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) is developing international campaigns to designate the East Antarctic marine protected area (MPA). The campaign focuses on building support for the designation by countries that are Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). This plan includes raising the international profile of Antarctic conservation so that it remains a priority for decision-makers.
 
 
Mission Blue recognizes Claire Christian, Executive Director of ASOC, and Kimberly Aiken, Research and Policy Associate with ASOC as the Hope Spot Champions of the East Antarctic Hope Spot in recognition of their efforts to encourage continued international collaboration to protect Antarctica.…

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Dutch King and Queen to Visit Mission Blue’s Newest Hope Spot: Saba and the Saba Bank

Header image: Aerial shot of Saba Island (c) Daniel Norwood
(SABA MARINE PARK, SABA DUTCH CARIBBEAN) –
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will be on Saba Island on February 9th, 2023, to learn more about the innovative urchin restoration project at the Saba Research Center. The new laboratory is located at the island’s Fort Bay harbor. The facility will be overseen by the Saba Conservation Foundation and is expected to attract visiting scientists to study Saba’s resilient marine life. The Saba Research Center will be the first marine lab in the Windward islands of the Dutch Caribbean where applied research can take place.
 
 
International marine conservation organization Mission Blue has declared Saba and the Saba Bank a Hope Spot in recognition of the ongoing efforts to ensure long-term sustainability and health for the island’s waters by many, including Hope Spot Champions Lynn Costenaro, Founding Director and Emily Malsack, Operational Director of the Sea & Learn Foundation.…

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Greater Skellig Coast Recognized as Ireland’s First Hope Spot

Image: Hope Spot Champions Lucy Hunt (right), Founder of SeaSynergy and Aoife O Mahony, Campaign Manager for Fair Seas Photo by Alan Landers
(THE SKELLIGS, IRELAND) –
In the southwestern waters off Ireland is Sceilg Mhichíl or The Skelligs, one of the most spectacular early medieval monastic sites in the world. The island stands out in the Atlantic, towering above waters with creatures like bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops), the elusive flapper skate (Dipturus batis) and stingrays (Dasyatis pastinaca). The Greater Skellig Coast stretches from Kenmare Bay in Co Kerry to Loop Head in Co Clare and covers an area of roughly 7,000 km2 of Irish coastal waters.
 
 
In the modern day, residents have connected with their blue backyard through a dolphin named Fungi, who for 38 years delighted locals with frequent sightings.…

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Hope Spot Announcement Leads to Marine Protection for the Great Fringing Reef of the Red Sea

Featured image: Renata Romeo
New MPA to protect more than 2000km of coral reef along Egypt’s Red Sea Coastline.  
SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT –
Yasmine Fouad, The Egyptian Minister of the Environment, has announced protection for the entire Great Fringing Reef in the Red Sea Hope Spot. The announcement of the new marine protected area occurred on Ocean Day at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm el Sheikh immediately following the official announcement of The Great Fringing Reef of the Red Sea Hope Spot by Mission Blue, The Ocean Agency and HEPCA.
“The international recognition brought to the Great Fringing Reef by the declaration of a Mission Blue Hope Spot undoubtedly played a big part in securing the protection for the reef”, said Prof.…

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Marine Life Recovery in the Revillagigedo Archipelago Hope Spot Points to Success of No-Take Marine Protected Areas

Featured image: Roca Partida Islet (c) Alberto Lebrija

Established in November 2017, the Revillagigedo National Park is Mexico’s and North America’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) at 148,087 square kilometers (57,177 square miles) and is safeguarded from industrial fishing and other extractive activities (The Pew Charitable Trusts). At the time, members of the local fishing industry raised concerns about the negative impact a no-take policy could have on their catch. However, scientists have noted growing biodiversity in Revillagigedo’s waters – news that is good for everybody, both fish and fishermen.
 

 
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue recognizes Mario Gomez, founder of Beta Diversidad (a Mexican NGO), as the new Champion of the Revillagigedo Archipelago Hope Spot. Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “I had the pleasure of seeing Mario in action as he led the work of organized civil society that ended with the creation of Revillagigedo National Park in November 2017.”…

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Israel’s First Hope Spot Recognized at Palmahim Slide off the Coast of Tel-Aviv

Featured image: Bioluminescent crab (c) University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research
MEDITERRANEAN SEA, ISRAEL 

The Palmahim Slide is an area of deep-sea waters that can be found 20-50 km off the coast of Tel-Aviv. The Slide is a bathymetric irregularity creating a distinct geological formation that is 15m wide, starting at depths of -100m and reaching up to -1,200m. Over the last decade, a national and international deep-sea research collaboration led by Dr. Yizhaq Makovsky of the University of Haifa and Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research have discovered two rare and important habitats – methane seeps and deep-water coral gardens – which had not been seen before in the south-eastern Mediterranean Sea. The site was recently documented as a mass reproduction hotspot for deep sea sharks.…

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Uruguay Announces New Marine Protected Area in the Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary of Uruguay Hope Spot

Featured image: Eduardo Sorensen

Today at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, Adrián Peña, Minister of Environment of Uruguay, announced that the country has committed to protecting 10% of its EEZ, or Exclusive Economic Zone with a new marine protected area (MPA) encompassing 12,000 km2 with 60% as a no-take zone. This plan is part of the announced “roadmap” called Uruguay Azul 2030, in which Uruguay commits to expand its total protected areas to 30% by 2030. Previously, just 0.7% of the country’s EEZ has been formally protected. 
 

 
This new MPA will not touch the coastline; at the furthest point from the coast, the boundary begins at 64.3 km, and at the nearest point, the boundary begins at 16 km off the coast.…

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A Yellow Submarine Explores the Depths of the Panamanian Pacific

Six scientists from Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador spent two weeks exploring the recently expanded Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area, an unknown region to science. This is what they saw.

By: Leila Nilipour
 

 
After almost 30 hours of sailing from Panama City, the M/V Argo, with six researchers and two science communicators on board, stopped near the fifth parallel: a few meters from the line that divides Panamanian and Colombian waters. A long underwater mountain range shared by both countries rose from the sea floor, one of its peaks directly below the ship, at a depth of about 130 meters. The Colombian side of the seamount had been explored before, but the Panamanian side had not. The scientific expedition led by marine ecologist Héctor Guzmán from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and MigraMar, and with researchers from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama, would be the first to do so.…

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