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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.”…

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New Hope Spot Champions for the Costa Rica Thermal Dome Emphasize Need for Sustainable High Seas Management

Featured image: Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) (c) Fundación MarViva
Costa Rica, Tropical Pacific Ocean

The Costa Rica Thermal Dome (CRTD) is considered a deeply important place in the high seas of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETPO). Here, strong upwelling events provide high concentrations of nutrients for creatures like blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), and giant manta rays (Mobula birostris). (Broenkow, 1965; Jiménez, 2016). Megafauna like sea turtles rely on these waters to migrate and mate. As the Dome is located in the high seas, no one country holds claim to it – nor can protect the threatened marine life within. However, the new Hope Spot Champions have bigger plans for the Dome.…

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Dr. Sylvia Earle Celebrates Expanded Marine Protected Area in the Galápagos Islands Hope Spot

By Avrah Sellar, Mission Blue

Today, January 14th, 2022, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, signed an official decree enhancing the marine protected area (MPA) around the Galápagos Archipelago in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. The decree will expand protections by 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles); half of which will be fully protected where no extractive activities are allowed. The new protected area known as La Hermandad, “the sisterhood,” will extend to the maritime border of Costa Rica offering an opportunity for multi-national cooperation to manage marine life like sharks, sea turtles and whales which migrate across countries waters.
 
 
Present at the ceremony was Dr. Sylvia Earle and Max Bello, Global Ocean Policy Advisor for Mission Blue, who attended at the invitation of the President.…

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Panama Achieves 30×30 Ocean Protection Goals in Newly Expanded Cordillera de Coiba Marine Protected Area

Header image by Max Bello.
Spanish translation can be read at the bottom of the page.
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (June 8th, 2021) –
On June 8th, 2021, Laurentino Cortizo, President of Panama and Milciades Concepción, Minister of Environment signed the decree that protects the Coiba Ridge, a move that will triple the Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area. With this act, Panama is set to be ahead of the 30% by 2030 goals (30×30) and become a true Blue Leader – a country that officially “highly and fully” protects 30% or more of its oceans. Panama will finalize the management plan to address the regulation of the new expanded MPA by the fall. 
 

 
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “Congratulations to President Laurentino Cortizo and the country of Panama for protecting this special part of the blue planet.…

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Happy Earth = Happy People

Last Friday, Grammy Award-winning musician, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Pharrell Williams and the United Nations Foundation welcomed 1,700 school children for the annual International Day of Happiness at the UN General Assembly Hall in New York City to spread happiness by learning how to take climate action and build a better world.
Pharrell addressed the young audience with the story of how music brings him joy, saying, “I’m here to talk to you guys about the importance of happiness. Music brought my happiness. And when you find out what makes you happy… you should know that happiness is your birthright.” He continued with a message about the importance of protecting Earth, our home:
We only have one home. And I know we’re visiting neighbors like Mars, and you know we’ve been to the Moon, but we have a home.…

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UN Thanks Samoans with BLUE On Tour Film Festival

by Courtney Mattison
Yesterday, the United Nations kicked off a four-day film festival at the National University of Samoa called BLUE On Tour as a special gift to the Samoan people for hosting the upcoming Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In partnership with the US-based BLUE Ocean Film Festival and the National University of Samoa, the UN selected a variety of films for BLUE On Tour that are sure to appeal to a diverse audience with topics surrounding ocean and climate change issues.
“We are pleased to support this unique initiative between BLUE and the National University of Samoa,” says Christian Clark, UN Spokesperson for the SIDS Conference. “Media has the power to catalyze important discussions. We hope this festival will help inspire dialogue between the Samoan people and arriving delegations, media and others attending this important meeting.”…

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Open Seas Teem with Life, Invisible and Invincible

Too often, we see the open ocean like the space between stars.
We imagine a void, vast and hollow, characterized by emptiness and populated by ghosts. Water becomes a medium, a barrier, something crossed en route to something of substance. To the sea we consign the ashes of our dead, symbolically releasing them from this world as though the watery realm weren’t part of it.
It is, of course, very much part of our world, and it is far from empty. In fact, the open ocean comprises planet Earth’s most powerful bio-engine. Though its inhabitants can barely be seen and have only recently come to science’s attention, they form an integral part of the marine biosphere. They undergird the valuable resources human beings extract from the ocean—resources we’ve come to depend on.…

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Sylvia Earle – From the Red Carpet to the UN

Today, Dr. Sylvia Earle delivered a keynote at the United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, along with fellow Benchley Award winner Dr. Jane Lubchenco.
With a first premise that the ocean is essential for planetary survival, the bottom line is that all of the world’s population must start to really care about the ocean. The goal is to become ocean stewards, protecting its vital role in sustaining life on Earth, while at the same time promoting ‘blue growth’ to achieve prosperous and resilient communities.
The webcast is available in it’s entirety at the United Nations Web TV site.  Dr. Earle speaks during the second hour. 

 
All photos courtesy of Dr. Sylvia A. Earle…

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