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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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The Quest for Kelp and Diving with Dr. Sylvia Earle

Featured image: Salome (left) with Dr. Sylvia Earle inspecting kelp samples © Taylor Griffith
By Salome Buglass
To follow her research on the Galápagos kelp forests, follow Salome on Twitter @bugsalome and her research update on Experiment.

Kelps are giant, brown algae that look a lot like plants, but actually belong to the Protist Kingdom, so they are not even closely related. However, much like trees, kelp can form vast undersea canopies, called kelp forests, teeming with marine file, feeding, breeding and finding refuge there. Kelps are cold water species that need nutrients, light and a hard seafloor to latch on to with their holdfasts (a rootlike system). This is why kelp forests are almost exclusively found in higher, colder latitudes.…

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A Voice for the Ocean: Counting Forgotten Species in the Galápagos

Featured image: Galápagos horn shark © Avi Klapfer
By Courtney Mattison

Before humans ever made landfall in the Galápagos Archipelago in 1535, only 300 years before Darwin’s fateful voyage, whale sharks migrated through the northern islands among oceanic manta rays and schools of hammerheads while green sea turtles munched on algae growing between barnacles the size of tennis balls on the rocks below. Sea lions and fur seals sunbathed on shore, reclining among marine iguanas, crimson Sally Lightfoot crabs, frigates and blue-footed boobies. Despite the challenges of tourism, commercial fishing and climate change, the Galápagos of today looks surprisingly similar. It’s tempting to assume that these islands and surrounding waters are relatively pristine given their remote location and UNESCO World Heritage status, and in some ways they are.…

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Ingjerd Haarstad Completes a “Swim for the Ocean” at The Jæren Coast Hope Spot

By Ingjerd Haarstad, Champion of the Jæren Coast Hope Spot. Featured image by Willy Miljeteig

The Jæren Coast Hope Spot is located just next to Stavanger, the “oil capital” of Norway. The country is ranked as having among the highest living standards in the world, but unfortunately, also has the third highest rate of climate change deniers. I have to admit, the idea of advocating for the ocean here – using all means (and swim strokes!) felt somehow a bit naïve, but not unimportant. 
This coast is also considered one of the most notorious coastlines of Norway, and one of the roughest ocean areas in the world rolls along these shores. As a lifeguard, freediver and instructor having spent hundreds of hours in these waters, I felt experienced and focused, but also quite humbled by its roughness.  …

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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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The Great Fringing Reef Named First Hope Spot in the Red Sea

EGYPT, RED SEA –
The Great Fringing Reef of the Red Sea in Egypt is a world-renowned coral reef system supporting a brilliant cornucopia of marine life. These reefs, especially those in the Northern Red Sea in Egypt are particularly unique, having been identified as some of the most climate-tolerant in the world (as identified by the 50 Reefs scientific study among others). Scientists believe that the Great Fringing Reef of the Red Sea still has the potential to survive the currently projected ocean temperature rising and could be the key to repopulating surrounding reefs, with the possibility of eventually pulling corals from the edge of near-extinction. Currently, about 50% of the reefs of Egypt’s Great Fringing Reef live within marine protected areas, but Richard Vevers, CEO of The Ocean Agency and Dr.…

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“The Whale’s City” South San Jorge Gulf in Argentina Named a Mission Blue Hope Spot

Image: Southern right whale mother and calf (c) César Gribaudo
SOUTHERN PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA (OCTOBER 18th, 2022) –
Looming over the waters of the South San Jorge Gulf Hope Spot in southern Patagonia, Argentina are rolling green hills and a winding road that traces the coastal edges of Santa Cruz province. The only city along the Gulf is Caleta Olivia, home to 50,000 people who, known to them or not, share a blue backyard with creatures like whales, dolphins and other species. César Gribaudo, CEO of Patagonia Red Global, likes to call his home “Ciudad de las Ballenas” – “City of the Whales”. He began conducting research on the marine life in the area in 1986 and he and his partners’ work remains some of the very little scientific research done on the whales and other marine life in the Gulf.…

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Research Expedition in the Galápagos Marine Reserve Focuses on Overlooked Species and Habitats

English and Spanish versions below
Image: Dr. Sylvia Earle is about to go in the submersible for an exploratory dive in the twilight zone a couple of miles off Wolf Island © Rolex/Franck Gazzola 
The Galapagos Islands Hope Spot, Ecuador (August 16th, 2022)

A multi-institutional team of scientists led by legendary oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Sylvia Earle (Mission Blue) carried out a two-week expedition in the Galápagos Marine Reserve on board the M/V Argo to rediscover and evaluate some of the largely overlooked habitats and species in the reserve, as the Reserve approaches its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2023. “Galapagos will always be a special place,” explained Dr. Earle. “It was here that I discovered cold water kelp communities on the equator fifty years ago, and it was Galápagos that, years later, inspired our Mission Blue Hope Spots initiative.”…

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Saving China’s Marine Life, the New Hope Begins in Hong Kong’s Waters

Featured image: Sham Wan
HONG KONG (July 26th, 2022)

Marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue has declared Hong Kong South a Hope Spot in recognition of the commitment to push for a formal marine protected area (MPA) from Hope Spot Champions Sharon Kwok Pong, Dr. Robert Lockyer, and Professor John Wong, with local NGO AquaMeridian Conservation & Education Foundation (AquaMeridian).

Since 2015, Aquameridian has been working hand in hand with community NGOs and the local government to increase the level of protection offered to the local endemic species including finless porpoises, sea turtles, horseshoe crabs, and the iconic Chinese white dolphins.
 
 
Hong Kong once was home to more than 6,000 species of marine life, including more than 100 species of coral, and transient large cetaceans and two resident dolphins, the shy finless porpoise and the iconic white dolphin.…

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