Dr. Sylvia Earle: Founder of Mission Blue

Since its founding, Mission Blue has grown into a global ocean conservation movement working across science, exploration, and public engagement to accelerate marine protection worldwide. Through expeditions, strategic partnerships, and the expansion of its Hope Spots network, the initiative continues to transform a single vision into measurable impact—advancing solutions that restore ocean health and safeguard the blue heart of the planet.

In 2010, that vision took its first major step with the designation of the Gulf of California as the first official Hope Spot. Recognized as one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on Earth, this milestone established the foundation for Mission Blue’s global approach to identifying and protecting critical ocean areas through science, community leadership, and international collaboration.

This growing movement has also been amplified through storytelling that connects people everywhere to the urgency—and possibility—of ocean conservation. The Mission Blue documentary, which debuted on Netflix in 2014, chronicles Dr. Sylvia Earle’s career and the origins of the initiative, highlighting both the threats facing the ocean and scalable solutions like marine protected areas and Hope Spots. By elevating these stories, Mission Blue continues to inspire individuals, policymakers, and partners to take action for ocean protection.

By 2015, Mission Blue had already demonstrated the effectiveness of this model, expanding to 50 Hope Spots across 42 countries and contributing to the protection of 18 million square kilometres of ocean. This early growth reflected a powerful collaborative network of 60 Hope Spot Champions and 75 conservation partners working to advance place-based conservation and global awareness.

In the 2017 National Geographic documentary Sea of Hope: America’s Underwater Treasures, Sylvia champions the creation of “blue parks” — protected ocean places that reflect the spirit of Mission Blue’s Hope Spots — to inspire a new generation to safeguard life beneath the waves.

Between 2020 and 2023, Mission Blue’s work increasingly aligned with growing international momentum to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. During this period, the organisation strengthened its role as a global convener and advocate, helping elevate the importance of Hope Spots and marine protected areas within broader policy conversations and conservation frameworks.

By 2025, the Mission Blue Hope Spots network reached 168 Hope Spots across 115 countries, helping to safeguard over 57 million square kilometres of ocean. Supported by more than 200 Hope Spot Champions and over 200 conservation partners, Mission Blue continues to act as a global convener and catalyst—accelerating science-based ocean conservation, strengthening local stewardship, and driving collective action to protect marine ecosystems at scale.

In 2026, Dr. Sylvia Earle returned to the TED stage with a powerful reminder: protecting the ocean is possible, recovery is already underway and everyone has a role to play. Sylvia reflects on the wish she made at TED in 2009: to ignite public support for a global network of ocean Hope Spots®, special places critical to the health of the ocean. Seventeen years later, that vision has grown into a worldwide movement led by communities, scientists, Indigenous leaders, policymakers and ocean advocates working to safeguard life beneath the waves. That vision is Mission Blue.