fbpixel hope spots Archives - Page 4 of 27 - Mission Blue

Blog Archives
St Helena Island Recognized as Mission Blue Hope Spot

In the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and Brazil lies a remote volcanic island of a mighty 47 square miles (121.7 square kilometers). Discovered uninhabited in 1502 by the Portuguese, St Helena Island became a British Overseas Territory in 1659 and is now home to 4,439 residents (2021 Census). Due to its remote geographic location and small population, the island has not suffered the environmental degradation commonly seen in other blue places around the world. Recognizing this, the St Helena National Trust, and local and UK governments are working in tandem to maintain a vibrant and healthy future for both the island’s wildlife and human inhabitants.
 

 
 
International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has named St Helena Island a Hope Spot in honor of the island’s ongoing initiatives to manage and monitor its marine environment as well as to grow a sustainable economy.…

Posted in .Homepage, Featured, hope spots, mission blue, Multimedia, Partner Stories |

4 Comments
Sink or Swim: Protecting and Restoring Key Mangrove Habitats for Juvenile Shark Species in the Golfo Dulce Hope Spot, Costa Rica

Golfo Dulce is one of only four tropical fjords in the world and is located on the Pacific coast of southern Costa Rica. Its warm, clear waters are home to an impressive array of marine life and play an important role in sustaining a number of critically important ecosystems.
 
 
Mission Blue designated the area a Hope Spot in 2019, in support of establishing official protection from the Costa Rican government to prevent the illegal fishing of scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) in the gulf. Research conducted by local conservation organization Misión Tiburón’, suggests that the area is an important nursery ground for the Eastern Tropical Pacific population of the Critically Endangered scalloped hammerhead shark.
 
Ilena Zanella, Hope Spot Champion and Co-founder, Misión Tiburón, says, “To protect migratory species, it is necessary to integrate conservation efforts into every phase of their life cycle.”  …

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

Leave a comment
Dr. Sylvia Earle: A Hero to Rio de Janeiro’s Ocean

Featured image: © Luciano Candisani
By Aline Aguiar, Champion, Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot

In July 2023, Dr. Sylvia Earle visited the Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot in Rio de Janeiro for her first dive in Brazilian waters.
Hosted by Ilhas do Rio Project, Dr. Earle’s visit was a quick trip, albeit intense and highly productive. While gaining a closer look at the Cagarras Islands and Surrounding Waters Hope Spot, Dr. Earle attended the Ocean and Climate Conference and went on her first SCUBA dive in Brazil. Dr. Earle’s visit to Rio de Janeiro inspires multiple generations of researchers, environmentalists, and decision-makers to advocate for the ocean.
 
 
After a long flight from the United States’ west coast, “Her Deepness” arrived in Brazil on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023.…

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

1 Comment
Everything Sharks! A Virtual Event with Eastern Tropical Pacific Shark Experts

August 25th, 2023 at 11:00am PDT (GMT – 7:00)
Everything Sharks! A Virtual Event with Eastern Tropical Pacific Shark Experts, Hosted by Mission Blue and MigraMar
 

 
Our Speakers:
Moderator – Max Bello, International ocean policy expert, Member, MigraMar
LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter
Alex Hearn – President, MigraMar, and Professor Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Hope Spot Champion, Galápagos Islands Hope Spot, Cocos-Galápagos Swimway Hope Spot
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram
Sandra Bessudo – Marine biologist, Founder and Director of Malpelo Foundation, Hope Spot Champion, Malpelo Island Hope Spot, Member, MigraMar
 

 
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Ilena Zanella – Founder, Misión Tiburón, Hope Spot Champion, Golfo Dulce Hope Spot, Member, MigraMar
Email: , LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
James Ketchum – Director of Marine Conservation and Co-Founder of Pelagios Kakunja, Hope Spot Champion, Gulf of California, Member, MigraMar
Email: …

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

Leave a comment
Verde Island Passage Named a Hope Spot Highlighting Community Reef Monitoring Program

Featured image: Coastal community drone © Joal Ascalon
(VERDE ISLAND PASSAGE, CORAL TRIANGLE, PHILIPPINES)

The Verde Island Passage (VIP) is a major waterway that separates southern Luzon Island from northern Mindoro Island in the Philippines, extending from Lubang Island in the west to Tablas Island in the east. Its 1.14 million hectares of coral reef, mangrove, and seagrass habitats possess a remarkable abundance of marine life, provide livelihoods to millions of people through fishing and ecotourism, serve as a major step commercial shipping channel, and houses significant industrial complexes along part of its shoreline.
Dr. Terrence Gosliner, Senior Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, California Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Wilfredo “Al” Licuanan, Distinguished Full Professor in the Department of Biology and a University Fellow at De La Salle University (DLSU) and their partners are seeking the inclusion of the Verde Island Passage as a National Integrated Protected Area System of the Philippines and declaration as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area of the International Maritime Organization. …

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

Leave a comment
Successful Coral Restoration Efforts Celebrated at Newly Declared Ocean Cay Hope Spot in the Bahamas

Ocean Cay is a former industrial island located 22 miles south of Bimini, The Bahamas, and 65 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. Since 2015, through multi-disciplinary and institutional collaborations, the MSC Foundation and MSC Group have restored the island to re-establish its ecological balance after years of destructive activities. The Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve has been recognized by the government of The Bahamas as an area of high biological productivity and biodiversity and as such, has been recommended for ‘Marine Protected Area’ status. The MSC Foundation and its partners are hopeful that their marine conservation work can take the recognition process over the finish line to achieve official protection. 
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has declared Ocean Cay a Hope Spot and Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Foundation Board Member and Chair of the Executive Committee – as the Hope Spot Champion in recognition of the Foundation and its partners’ programs to restore the area to its natural state to achieve a balanced ecology that can be maintained for generations to come.…

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

Leave a comment
My Thoughts on Deep Sea Mining by Dr. Sylvia Earle

Featured image: Bamboo coral, family Isididae on steep rock in the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone Hope Spot © Dan Jones, ECOMAR Project
If you would like to watch our June 2023 live webinar with Dr. Sylvia Earle on this topic, you can view it on the Mission Blue YouTube channel.
By: Dr. Sylvia Earle

Deep sea mining is much on my mind. Greed, not need, has inspired an amazingly seductive marketing campaign that has generated a dangerous smog in the minds of many who are willing to accept the pitch without considering the harsh economic, environmental and common sense realities involved.
Imagine!  The fate of half of the world is on the chopping block, with authority to decide actions vested in a council of 36 individuals representing the interests of 168 countries and – although most are oblivious to what’s going on – the interests of 8 billion people and all of life on Earth.…

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

3 Comments
The Northeast “Whale Capital” of Iceland Recognized as Mission Blue Hope Spot

(NORTHEAST ICELAND) –
Mission Blue has named Northeast Iceland a Hope Spot in recognition of the area’s rich diversity of marine life, the brilliantly unique ecosystems they reside in, and the work of Hope Spot Champions Belén García Ovide, Dr. Charla Jean Basran, and Eva Björk Káradóttir to encourage formal protections for them. The Northeast Iceland Hope Spot is being honored on the evening of June 5th at the Explorers Club in New York, New York, as part of World Ocean Week celebrations with Dr. Sylvia Earle. 
 
 
Dr. Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “In this area, just beneath the surface, [there is] a vibrant world of geothermal vents, upwelling currents, nutrient-rich waters, and a place where biodiversity proliferates in a dynamic environment.…

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

1 Comment
Byron Bay Named Australia’s Newest Mission Blue Hope Spot Highlighting Need for Improved Marine Protections

Featured image: Migaloo white humpback whale and Wollumbin © Craig Parry
(BYRON BAY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA) –
An 8-hour drive north from Sydney, Australia rests the small coastal town of Byron Bay, appreciated by its 9,000 residents for its sparkling blue waters, golden sands and epic surf breaks. The area encompasses the Cape Byron Marine Park and the Julian Rocks Nguthungulli Nature Reserve, which represent the ecological, cultural, and economic importance of the region. In recent years, Byron Bay has become a popular tourist destination, with 3 to 5 million annual visitors. However, this added pressure comes with a downside: much like many marine ecosystems around the world, the area struggles with the negative effects of pollution, runoff, and increasing coastal development, which has caused habitat degradation of the local marine life.…

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

Leave a comment
The Great Lakes Named Mission Blue’s First Freshwater Hope Spot

Featured image: Aerial view of Sleeping Bear Dunes © Shedd Aquarium
(LAKE MICHIGAN, CHICAGO, UNITED STATES) –
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has named the Great Lakes the first and only freshwater Hope Spot with the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, as the Hope Spot Champion. 
 
 
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, posed a challenge to Shedd Aquarium last April to consider the Great Lakes for designation, in part, due to the unique connectivity they share with marine environments and human health. “The Great Lakes represent both the figurative and the literal heart of the North American water system,” Dr. Earle stated. “A source of water for over 40 million people and more than 3,500 plant and animal species, many of which are unique to the Great Lakes, the inclusion of this critically important natural area as a Hope Spot will highlight the connection and significance of protecting inland habitats, as we really understand that the whole aquatic world; inland waters and the ocean beyond are one interconnected system.” …

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

1 Comment