Dr. Sylvia Earle Names Palmyra Atoll a ‘Hope Spot’ for the World’s Ocean - Mission Blue

April 19, 2018

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Palmyra Atoll, a place so remote it was once proposed as a nuclear waste site, has been named a “Hope Spot” by Mission Blue, a non-profit coalition dedicated to creating a global network of marine protected areas that give the world’s oceans respite from human impacts and a chance to recover and flourish. As a Mission Blue Hope Spot, Palmyra Atoll is now squarely in the international spotlight and Mission Blue and her partners are dedicated to communicating all successes and continuing threats to the area on a global level.

Palmyra Atoll from Above by Graeme Gale

“Palmyra’s spectacular marine environment is a reminder of what our coral reefs should look like,” said Dr. Sylvia Earle, the legendary ocean explorer and marine biologist who founded Mission Blue. “Its remote Pacific location, its history of wildlife recovery and restoration, and the level of protection as a national wildlife refuge and marine national monument it receives make it ideal for scientific study and a beacon of hope for coral reefs everywhere.”

Reef Sharks at Palmyra by Kydd Pollock

Earle will be a keynote speaker at the opening session of this week’s EarthX Conference in Dallas, Texas, where a new series of 360-degree virtual dives and Virtual Reality video on Palmyra also will be revealed for the first time. Produced by The Ocean Agency and Seaview 360 through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and financial and on-the-ground support from the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy, the virtual dives are  now available for all to see on Google Street View Oceans Portal and the 360-degree video on YouTube.

Coral Garden by Christophe Bailhache

“The power of 360-degree Virtual Reality enables us to share the beauty and richness of Palmyra from any device, anytime, anywhere,” said Michael Tosatto, NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator. “It captures the magnificence of this underwater world and the need to protect it.”

Giant Clam in Coral by Andrew Wright

“You don’t have to be a scuba-diver or even know how to swim to explore and experience the underwater world of one of the most remote atolls on earth. Through our immersive Virtual Reality imagery people can now realize how important it is to protect this precious jewel of the Pacific” added Christophe Bailhache co-founder of The Ocean Agency and Seaview 360, who captured this 360-degree imagery.

Palmyra by Bryce Groark

“People can connect with their national wildlife refuges in many ways – this new technology and virtual visitation experience is allowing people to experience remote national wildlife refuges like Palmyra Atoll in ways that were never before possible,” said Stefan Kropidlowski, Palmyra Atoll Refuge Manager.

Hope Spot Champion Bryce Groark and Dr. Sylvia Earle at Palmyra in 2017

Located 1,000 miles south of Hawaii in the vast equatorial Pacific, Palmyra is co-owned and managed as an international research station and national wildlife refuge by The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is also part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which, at 13 million acres, is one of the world’s largest marine protected areas.

Palmyra Coral Gardens by Kydd Pollock

Hope Spots like Palmyra Atoll are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean — Earth’s blue heart. Hope Spots are about recognizing, empowering and supporting individuals and communities around the world in their efforts to protect the ocean. Dr. Sylvia Earle introduced the concept in her 2009 TED talk and since then the idea has inspired millions across the planet.

Photographing a Corallimorphs by Christophe Bailhache

Palmyra was formed by coral growth on the rim of submerged volcano that rises 16,000 feet from the ocean floor. It is fringed by lagoons and sprawling reefs that are home to a profusion of whales, sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, manta rays and exotic fish. Its vast submerged reefs, which radiate seaward beyond the atoll, support over 130 species of coral—three times the number found in Hawaii and the Caribbean, and five times that found in the Florida Keys.

School of Convict Tangs by Tim Calvers

The atoll itself, 26 islets covering 680 acres, provides breeding habitat for 10 seabird species, one of the last Pisonia forests in the U.S. Pacific, and sanctuary for the world’s largest land invertebrate, the coconut crab.

Palmyra Atoll Coconut Crab by Bryce Groark

Apart from World War II, when it was occupied by the U.S. military, Palmyra has never had a permanent human population. Its previous owner sold the atoll to The Nature Conservancy in 2000 after turning down an offer to make it a nuclear waste site. The Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2001. The Conservancy retained the atoll’s largest islet as a site for an international research station.

Dr. Earle Diving at Palmyra Atoll in 2017

A final layer of protection was added when Palmyra was included in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, created by President George W. Bush in 2009 and expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014. The monument is managed cooperatively by the USFWS and NOAA. It benefits Palmyra by extending the area around the atoll that is off-limits to commercial activities from 12 to 50 miles.

Sundown at Palmyra by Bryce Groark

More recently, Palmyra has benefitted from conservation management and investment. In 2011, the USFWS brought in Island Conservation, a global island restoration group, to remove invasive rats. Two years later, the USFWS removed two shipwrecks from the surrounding waters, including one that was leaching iron into the marine environment. The impact of which can be seen today with a site taken over by corallimorph, highlighting one of the greatest threats to Palmyra’s reefs. And in 2015, the Conservancy installed solar energy, dramatically reducing the research station’s dependence on fossil fuel and the environmental risk of transporting and storing that fuel.

Survey at Palmyra by Kydd Pollock

NOAA Fisheries has surveyed and monitored Palmyra’s corals and reef fish for nearly 20 years. The opportunity to conduct research at Palmyra has also attracted scientists from Stanford, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and other top institutions. Because Palmyra’s reefs are as close to pristine as those found anywhere else in the world, with minimal human disturbance, the atoll serves as an ideal natural laboratory, providing scientists with a baseline for what a healthy coral reef ecosystem should look like.

Bumphead Wrasse at Palmyra by Kydd Pollock

“A lot of scientific understanding of how marine ecosystems function is based on research at highly degraded places,” said Alex Wegmann, the Conservancy’s Palmyra Program Director. “Here, researchers can investigate what critical functions have been lost in more degraded reefs and how they might be restored.”    

For more information about Palmyra, click on the following links

www.nature.org/palmyra

www.fws.gov/refuge/palmyra_atoll/

http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/MNM/mnm_prias.html

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Media Contacts

The Ocean Agency/Seaview 360
Christophe Bailhache, , +61 424 580 565

The Nature Conservancy
Grady Timmons, Director of Communications, , 808-587-6237

NOAA Fisheries
Jolene Lau, , (808) 725-5020 (office), (808) 721-4098 (cell)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Holly Richards, , 808-792-9531

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Content Links

Digital media kit

Palmyra Atoll 360 Video

Google Street View Oceans Portal

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2 thoughts on “Dr. Sylvia Earle Names Palmyra Atoll a ‘Hope Spot’ for the World’s Ocean

  1. Many thanks for publishing this. I had no idea that a coral reef could look like Palmyra. This is an incredible resource for the world to see, and highly valuable to schools. …… a stimulus for continued learning and action.

  2. This article and its pictures bring HOPE to my disgruntled heart on Earth Day! It is extremely hard at times to read, hear and see the destruction caused by the actions of humans, plastics, and governments. Thank you for your continued work and support to preserve and conserve this amazing blue planet.

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