Sargasso Sea Archives - Mission Blue

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High Seas Treaty Reached at United Nations in Historic Deal

Featured image: Sargassum floating in the Sargasso Sea, located in the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, high seas. The Sargasso Sea is one of Mission Blue’s Hope Spots located in the high seas © Philippe Rouja
(UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK) – 
After two decades of ongoing discussion, United Nations delegates from 193 nations reached a historic agreement on March 4th, 2023 to protect marine biodiversity and address climate change in international waters, also known as the “high seas”. The high seas refers to approximately 2/3rds of the world’s oceans that are not within any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), leaving such waters vulnerable to damaging fishing and other extractive practices. 
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, says, “This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health, now and for generations to come.”…

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

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New Hope Spot Champions of the Sargasso Sea to Conduct First Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis of a High Seas System

Featured image: Philippe Rouja free diving under Sargassum in Challenger Banks, Bermuda (c) David Doubilet
SARGASSO SEA, NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 11th, 2022)

Often referred to as “the floating golden rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean”, the Sargasso Sea covers an impressive two million square miles of water. It has no land boundaries: rather, the area of the Sargasso Sea is defined by the whirling grasp of major currents within the North Atlantic Gyre. Vast mats of sun-soaked, free-floating yellow Sargassum seaweed bob at the surface under distinctively calm air. 
 
 
The Sargasso Sea is a high seas ecosystem – it lies outside of the boundaries of any country. The high seas make up more than 60% of the ocean and while they possess deeply important biological diversity, they remain some of the least protected places on the planet.…

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Saving the Sargasso Sea: The Golden Floating Rainforest of the Atlantic

Header image: An expanse of Sargassum. (c) The Nonsuch Expeditions, JP Rouja
By Teresa Mackey, Programme Manager, Sargasso Sea Commission

The Sargasso Sea, a two million square nautical mile expanse of the North Atlantic, has long been an area famed for mystery and intrigue. Although sometimes referenced in popular culture in connection with the mythical ‘Bermuda Triangle’, for scientists around the world it is an area of interest due to its oceanographic history and the biodiversity of the high seas ecosystem. 
One mystery of the Sargasso Sea that continues to perplex scientists is the life cycle of the endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and American eel (Anguilla rostrata). There is good scientific evidence that their spawning occurs in the Sargasso Sea, although the exact location has never been observed by scientists.…

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

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Second Century Stewardship in US National Parks

David Shaw, the founding chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance (a Mission Blue partner) and conservation filmmaker, has recently released a documentary titled Second Century Stewardship: Science beyond the Scenery in Acadia National Park. The film has come out on the occasion of the historic 2016 centennial celebrations of Acadia National Park and the US National Park Service. Mr. Shaw serves as a Trustee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Park Foundation.

Second Century Stewardship is a hopeful, forward-looking film that examines what science-based stewardship looks like in Acadia and beyond in this second century of the national parks system. Mr. Shaw remarks, “This collaboration is intended to more powerfully engage science in America’s national parks to benefit park stewardship and to encourage public engagement in science through park experiences.”…

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Mission Blue Galapagos Expedition Leads to Historic Protection Push for Sargasso Sea Hope Spot

(Dr. Sylvia Earle on the Mission Blue Galapagos Expedition)
Mission Blue’s Galapagos Expedition made serious ripples in the ocean community and inspired a wellspring of action and initiative for ocean conservation. One such result was ocean appassionato David Shaw taking interest in the Sargasso Sea — the “floating rainforest of ocean” as Dr. Earle calls it — which led to the creation of the Sargasso Sea Alliance, a special organization that has worked tirelessly for years to better protect the marine area. This week, their efforts have paid off in spades.
On Tuesday, countries and territories from around the Sargasso Sea Hope Spot and Europe met in Bermuda to reaffirm their support for an initiative, led by the Government of Bermuda, to collaborate for the conservation of the Sargasso Sea ecosystem.…

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2013 SeaKeeper Award Goes Out Tonight

Our friends at SeaKeeper and the Sargasso Sea Alliance are gathering at the St. Francis Yacht Club tonight to present the 2013 International SeaKeeper Award to honor and promote key figures who have made extraordinary commitments to protect this unique area of our ocean.
The event will take place along with the America’s Cup which will be in full swing this week. In attendance will be Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue director Patty Elkus and more passionate ocean advocates from the Sargasso Sea Alliance and other hardworking nonprofits. For last minute tickets, click here.

The Sargasso Sea, one of Mission Blue’s 19 Hope Spots, is a dynamic ecosystem of thriving diversity that contributes to overall ocean health. Located near Bermuda, the Sargasso Sea is the only sea without a land boundary.…

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Photo of the Week ~ Sargasso Fish

Our photo of the week is the Sargassum Fish, Histrio histrio, to celebrate Mission Blue’s Sargasso Sea Hope Spot and the work of the Sargasso Sea Alliance. An iconic resident of the Sargasso Sea, it’s life is typically spent adrift on tropical and warm temperate oceans among floating Sargassum Weed. Although the Sargassum Fish is capable of swimming quite rapidly, it often crawls through the Sargassum Weed, using its pectoral fins like arms.
The unique appearance of the fish features stalked, grasping, limb-like pectoral fins with small gill openings behind the base, a trapdoor-like mouth high on the head, and a “fishing lure” on the snout. The Sargasso Fish is an ambush predator and also a cannibal – one individual was found to have 16 juveniles in its stomach!…

Posted in Multimedia, Photo of the Day |

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Cartoonist Jim Toomey supports Bermuda’s Blue Halo Initiative

In a new video, cartoonist, Jim Toomey, creator of Sherman’s Lagoon, adds his voice in support of the Bermuda Blue Halo initiative, which proposes the designation of a large marine reserve that would protect Bermuda’s unique marine environment. For more on the initiative click here.

Be a believer. Support Bermuda’s Blue Halo. Visit BermudaBlueHalo.org…

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