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Buceando Para Conservar Los Corales: Punto De Esperanza Chichiriviche

Spanish translation of Diving for Coral Conservation: Chichiriviche Hope Spot
Traducido Por: Rubén Nino

El pueblo de Chichiriviche de La Costa es una pequeña gema en la línea costera Venezolana, una tranquila bahía donde un río proveniente de las montañas descarga en el mar. Los lugareños viven en la parte baja de las montañas justo detrás de la playa, y son unos cientos de habitantes cuyos ingresos dependen de la pesca artesanal y el turismo local. En ambos lados de la bahía se encuentran arrecifes coralinos con una gran diversidad biológica. Varias especies de esponjas y medusas atraen Tortugas Carey, que son encontradas frecuentemente alimentándose de ellas en la playa. Dos veces al año ocurre la surgencia, lo cual produce aumentos relativos en las poblaciones de fito y zooplankton, y atrae varias especies de sardinas y arenques.…

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Outreach and Action: An Update from Hope Spot Hatteras

By: Sam Athey, Plastic Ocean Project

There is fewer and fewer places left in the world truly wild, untouched by man. Places where one can escape the human world and be completely submerged in living nature. Cape Hatteras is one of these places, however, the untouched area is shrinking.
I have been on the planet for two short decades and can only imagine what Cape Hatteras was like over half a century ago. Locals tell me stories of strolling along Coquina Beach hunting for the largest seashells, sailing twenty miles offshore of Cape’s Point following the biggest schools of dolphinfish, and laying under the Milky Way at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and feeling as if you were on the edge of the universe.…

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Protecting the Coral Triangle with Mission Blue

PADI is encouraging all divers to actively participate in the protection of the Coral Triangle Hope Spot- a prime global center for marine biological diversity.
By: Emily Bates, PADI

For divers, the fact that the Coral Triangle holds 75% of the world’s coral species should be enough to fall absolutely in love with this ‘Amazon of the Seas’. And when we say that nearly 90% of those reefs are threatened, we should have your full attention.
Mission Blue is calling for all hands on deck with conservation efforts towards the Coral Triangle, a region consisting of the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. This precious region faces warming seas, coral bleaching, destructive fishing, pollution, and coastal development that have caused 90% of the reefs to be considered ‘threatened’. …

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Diving for Coral Conservation: Chichiriviche Hope Spot

To view the article in Spanish, click here. 
By: Shilpi Chhotray, Communications Strategist 

The town of Chichiriviche de la Costa is a small gem on the Venezuelan coastline, set in a tranquil bay where a freshwater river runs through the mountains and empties into the sea. The locals live in the hills just above the beach, consisting of a few hundred people whose income is derived from fishing and local tourism opportunities. Coral reefs live on both sides of the bay, accompanied by a wide diversity of marine life. A variety of medusa and sea sponges frequently attract Hawksbill sea turtles which are commonly found feeding on the beach. Upwellings occur twice a year, providing important phytoplankton and zooplankton blooms which entice various species of sardines and herring.…

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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.…

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California’s Love Affair with the Sea

David Helvarg’s book, The Golden Shore – California’s Love Affair with the Sea has received critical acclaim from marine enthusiasts including Dr. Sylvia Earle who calls it  “a thrilling read.”  In Chapter 3 titled “Ghost Forests,” he reports on the creation of a network of Marine Protected Areas (or Hope Spots) and other reserves that now cover 16 percent of California’s waters.  These include some of the seas off Catalina Island described in the excerpt below.
By: David Helvarg

We’re diving along open sandy bottom when suddenly a six-hundred-pound sea lion streaks past us on the hunt like some sleek, flexible torpedo.  Sometimes they’ll check you out and want to play with the slow, awkward bubble breathers but not this one.  …

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Vatika Bay Hope Spot: Submerged Ancient Grecian City Abuts Marine Abundance

By: Shilpi Chhotray, Mission Blue Communications Strategist

Vatika Bay and the Myrtoon Sea in Greece may boast clear blue waters, white sandy beaches and iconic mountainous ridges, but what makes the Hope Spot truly special is intersection of nature and culture. Iconic species including whales and dolphins, loggerhead turtles, monk seals, and fan clams swim near a spectacular underwater archeological site called Pavlopetri. Located in the western part of Vatika Bay, Pavlopetri thrived in 3,500 BCE which makes it about 5,000 years old and one of the oldest submerged lost cities in the world! The Early Bronze Age port city is found under two to three meters of water, making it easily accessible to snorkelers. However, due to large commercial oil tankers and cargo ships anchoring in Vatika Bay and polluting its waters, Pavlopetri has been identified as a cultural heritage site at risk on the World Monuments Fund 2016-2018 World Monuments Watch Site. …

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A Bay Full of Hope

By: Geo Cloete

Water is still dripping from my partly undressed wetsuit. With my towel comfortably wrapped around my shoulders, I can feel the heat of the African sun warming me up nicely. It’s a stunningly beautiful winter’s day in Cape Town and although there is a crispness to the air, I feel in no rush to leave. As my mind reflects back to the wonders spotted during two incredible dives, I witness the majestic Hottentot Holland mountain range along the Eastern shore of False Bay. The soft shadows of the afternoon sun render the topography of the mountains beautifully. It won’t be long before the sky starts to turn a gradient of light blues and pinks as the sun dips lower to meet the Atlantic Ocean at sunset.…

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Heartache and Hope for Coral Reefs

In 2012 Liz Cunningham witnessed a dramatic coral bleaching event in the Turks and Caicos Islands in less than one week’s time. That month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented record-breaking temperature highs for the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. This excerpt from Cunningham’s award-winning book, Ocean Country, describes what she saw.
By: Liz Cunningham 

The boat chugged out into the sleek waters of Grace Bay to a site called Boneyard. Oh, I loved that place!  I sat on the upper deck of the boat and remembered the last time we were there, just the week before. It was a series of deep sand channels, densely populated with finger and staghorn coral. The finger coral were shaped like protruding stubby thumbs and the staghorn coral, like the large antlers of a deer.…

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How do you Transform a Shark-Finning Camp into a Nursery for Baby Sharks?

We are proud to partner with the Misool Foundation! 
By: Jo Marlow

In 2005, explorers and visionaries Marit and Andrew Miners were diving in remote Raja Ampat, Indonesia amongst the richest reefs in the world. Their journey took them to a beach where they discovered an active shark-finning camp. Jarred by the tranquility experienced underwater in contrast to the brutal killing taking place at the surface, they made a pact to protect the exceptional ecosystem from poachers. 
The Miners had very little applicable experience, no significant financial backing, limited language skills, and more than a few skeptical and vocal nay-sayers. What they had in abundance was energy, blissful naïveté, a passion for nature, and a steadfast belief in the ability of one small group to manifest change.…

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