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Spain’s Canary Islands Declared a Hope Spot Amid Global Climate Change Discussion at CoP25

TENERIFE-LA GOMERA, CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN (December 11th, 2019) –
(Spanish Translation Appears Below)
The brilliant blue waters between the Canary Islands of Tenerife and La Gomera have been called the “Hawaii of Europe” for being one of the finest examples in the world of a thriving pelagic archipelago system. Within the waves lives an extraordinary assemblage of open-ocean species, including the short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), also known as the “cheetahs of the sea”. More than 700,000 visitors travel each year from every corner of the globe to whale and bird watch, SCUBA dive and hike along the islands’ scenic cliffs.
 
 
These waters span several preexisting protected areas, or Special Areas of Conservation, such as the SAC Teno-Rasca in Tenerife, and in La Gomera SAC Santiago-Valle Gran Rey and SAC Los Organos.…

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Rescuing Sea Turtles from Ghost Nets

Mission Blue is thrilled to partner with the Olive Ridley Project in the Maldives! The following is a guest post all about their amazing work:
Every year millions of animals including whales, dolphins, turtles and birds are mutilated and killed by lost, abandoned or discarded fishing nets, otherwise known as “ghost nets.” Entangled animals either drown within minutes or endure long, slow deaths lasting months or even years, suffering from debilitating wounds, infection and starvation. Oceanic currents provide pathways for ghost nets to travel huge distances from their points of origin, often accumulating in various hotspots around the world.
The Olive Ridley Project (ORP) was founded in the Maldives by biologist Martin Stelfox in response to the alarming number of olive ridley sea turtles found entangled in ghost gear.…

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Conservation, Education and Research in French Polynesia

Mission Blue is excited to partner with Te Mana o Te Moana! Veterinarian Dr. Cécile Gaspar founded Te Mana o Te Moana – meaning spirit of the oceans – in 2004 to preserve our marine environment for future generations through three key actions: Conservation, Education and Research. For over ten years now, this Tahitian nonprofit has developed actions and programs in these three fields throughout French Polynesia. Coral reefs, sea turtles, marine mammals and sustainable practices are some of Te Mana o Te Moana’s main priorities, but it is constantly looking to develop its actions in any field that can have an impact on the health of our planet. The foundation also works with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Reef Check – two other Mission Blue partners.…

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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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Capturing a Dream

The Photography of Christian Vizl
Ever since I was a kid, as far as I can remember, I was attracted to the sea. I dream about what lies beneath the waves. I imagine what it would look like if suddenly all the water would disappear for a while, but all the animals and living creatures would remain at the same place they were, so I could then take a walk inside the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space.
I still have that same dream, and I am very grateful that now I am able to live it every time I go down to the sea. I see my pictures, and realize they are the result of that childhood dream… beautiful and incredible marine life suspended in their natural environment and captured in a brief moment of time.…

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Finding the Leatherbacks

This weekend our expedition team, including Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Erick Ross, Dr. George Schillinger and Kip Evans visited the turtles at the Leatherback Trust hatchery in Costa Rica.
The hatchery serves to give leatherbacks a better chance at overall survival. It begins by protecting the iconic creature’s eggs from predators, after which on-site biologists monitor the nests, checking nest temperatures which determine the sex of the turtles. When the turtles have matured, they are released to begin their migration offshore to the Central American Dome. 
Successful protection of 99% of the nests started in 1993 and the hatchery started to operate in 1998-99. Although at present, population numbers are decreasing, we can expect to see numbers of leatherbacks increasing in the next few years.…

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Expedition Day Two – Leatherback nesting in Playa Grande

Tourists from all over the world come to the beaches of Playa Grande in Costa Rica to have the awe-inspiring experience of watching giant leatherback turtles lay their eggs after returning to the coast from waters of the Central American Dome Hope Spot offshore.
In addition to the undeniable value of the leatherback within the marine ecosystem, this critically endangered species holds promise as a focal point for sustainable development in the coastal communities surrounding their nesting beaches.
Local leaders have created a Community Association training locals to greet visitors to Marino las Baulas National Park, share a brief educational presentation, and ensure that visitors have a minimal impact on this critical leatherback habitat.
The volunteers reminisced about the old times when “one could barely walk on the beach,” due to the large number of nesting leatherbacks.…

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Mission Blue Partner Kai Marine Reports on Loggerheads in the Med

We’re honored today to deliver you the results of Mission Blue Partner KAI Marine Service‘s Project OASIS, which studied loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean. Enjoy!
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Over 4 months of survey in the Mediterranean open sea, tracking and observing loggerhead sea turtles in their oceanic stage has enabled research to gain new insight of how this ecosystem functions. A total of 118 turtles have been part of the OASIS project in its first edition. Equipped with National Geographic Crittercam, satellite tags and acoustic tags, turtles have become “living oceanographic gliders” recording data that should hopefully allow scientists to reveal the mystery of the “Mediterranean Serengeti Paradox”.

Each loggerhead turtle basking on the surface during its oceanic phase becomes an oasis that aggregates algae and invertebrates, ultimately aggregating a bait ball for top predators in the open ocean realm to feed on.…

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First Pacific Leatherback Conservation Day in California – Oct. 15

Peak Season for Sightings of California’s Official Marine Reptile Along the Coast
The leatherbacks are here! The state of California’s first official Pacific Leatherback Conservation Day on October 15 comes at the peak of the season for leatherbacks feeding on jellyfish along the state’s coastline. As many as 300 endangered leatherbacks swim the coastline every year in search of jellyfish. While many threats to the survival of the critically endangered sea turtle remain, California’s coast is today a safe haven for this ancient marine species.
So far this year 16 sightings of the elusive leatherback sea turtles along the Central California coast were reported by whale watchers, fishers and researchers to the Leatherback Watch Program, a citizen science program organized by Turtle Island Restoration Network (SeaTurtles.org)…

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