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New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Named a Hope Spot to Highlight Ongoing Cleanup Efforts to Improve Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration

Featured image: Egrets in the Meadowlands © Hackensack Riverkeeper
(NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY HARBOR ESTUARY, UNITED STATES) –
The New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary is located in the largest metropolitan region in the United States, where more than 14 million people work and raise their families and millions more come to visit from around the world every year. Throughout more than three centuries, the water in the estuary was degraded due to pollution and habitat destruction from activities like untreated sewage, industrial waste dumping, dredging, and development. The quality of the water hit its lowest point in the 1960s, a turning point in which New York State voters passed the Pure Waters Bond Act in 1965 and the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 was passed when several public and private NGOs and agencies began focusing on its recovery and pushed improved regulations and enforcement, coastal land use policies, public access, research, and education.…

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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 Sea Hub of Environmental Learning in Laamu (SHELL), a Jewel for Conservation in the Maldives

Featured images: Sea Hub of Environmental Learning in Laamu © Shannon Rake
(LAAMU ATOLL, SOUTHERN MALDIVES) –
Congratulations to Six Senses Laamu, Hope Spot Champions for Laamu Atoll who celebrated the grand opening of the Sea Hub for Environmental Learning in Laamu (SHELL) on March 1, 2023. The SHELL will house the Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI), a marine conservation collaborative consisting of Six Senses Laamu marine biologists and partner NGOs, The Manta Trust, Blue Marine Foundation and the Olive Ridley Project.
 

 
Marteyne van Well, Regional General Manager, says, “Healing the ocean requires understanding first. The environmentalist Baba Dioum once said, ‘In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.’…

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Mission Blue Makes Waves at IMPAC5: A Celebration of Hope Spots and Indigenous Influence

Header image: Dr. Sylvia Earle, IMPAC5 keynote speaker © IISD/ENB 
(VANCOUVER, CANADA) –
From February 3rd-9th, 2023, the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) was co-hosted by the Canadian government and The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This conference brought together policymakers, conservationists, scientists, and stakeholders from around the world to exchange knowledge, experiences, and best practices in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Mission Blue was omnipresent at the Congress, with the Hope Spots program and the influential presence of Dr. Sylvia Earle.
 

 
The event underscored the importance of indigenous influence in ocean conservation, highlighting the invaluable knowledge and practices of indigenous communities. The focus on indigenous perspectives demonstrated a growing recognition of the vital role that traditional knowledge and practices play in marine conservation, acknowledging the need for greater collaboration and understanding between indigenous communities and the broader conservation community.…

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Scuba Diving made Accessible to Every Body throughout Pacific Northwest with S.A.F.E. Scuba

By Chelsea Meier, Creative Partner, S.A.F.E. SCUBA

(HILLSBORO, PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES) – 
Beneath the tranquil blue water of the ocean, there’s a bustling world filled with marine life, coral, and wonder. Those who are disabled may not believe that this world is accessible to them but with S.A.F.E. Scuba, it is.
 
 
S.A.F.E. Scuba is a non-profit organization, based in Hillsboro, Oregon, that trains both divers with disabilities and dive buddies who will accompany them on their adventures. Through their adaptive diving programs, they strive to give those with disabilities the chance to gain the confidence, independence, freedom, and self-esteem that come with the sport of scuba diving. Through adaptive diving, those with disabilities can explore new depths and gain a sense of freedom in the open water.…

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Snorkeling for Science: Citizen Scientists join Cape RADD in Exploring the Underwater World of the False Bay Hope Spot, South Africa

By Louise Baldwin, Hope Spot Specialist
Header image: Beautiful underwater scene in the False Bay Hope Spot © Raoul Coscia
(FALSE BAY, SOUTH AFRICA) – 
Southern Africa is home to a particularly rich array of marine diversity with over 13,000 species, almost 6% of all coastal marine species worldwide. Even more impressive is that 35% of these are endemic (occurring nowhere else in the world). This species richness is largely attributed to the fact that two major current systems, the warm Agulhas and the cool Benguela current sweep along its coastline.   
Mike Barron, False Bay Hope Spot Champion says, “I am lucky enough to have traveled the world diving and even worked on the Great Barrier Reef, but on a good day, there’s nowhere quite like diving in the Great African Sea Forests.” …

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Important Sea Turtle Breeding and Foraging Grounds Throughout the Pearl Islands Archipelago in Panama Recognized as a Hope Spot

Featured image by Eduardo Estrada

(PEARL ISLANDS, GULF OF PANAMA) – 
El Archipelago de las Perlas, or the Pearl Islands Archipelago, is a collection of more than 200 islands and islets and 3,188 beaches, located in the Gulf of Panama, approximately 48 kilometers off its Pacific Coast. This archipelago holds an impressive marine life richness and diversity that has yet to be fully discovered, studied, and recognized for its importance within the Latin American region and around the globe. It provides, currently or historically, a breeding ground for four sea turtle species: hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), leatherback sea turtles (Dermochleys coriacea), and olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), and it is a nursery ground for hammerhead sharks (Sphyrnidae) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to breed and raise their young. …

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Panama Achieves Nearly 60% Ocean Protection with Newly Expanded Banco Volcán Marine Protected Area

Featured image: Whale shark by Cristina Mittermeier

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (March 2, 2023) –
On March 2, 2023, during the opening ceremony of the 2023 Our Ocean Conference, Laurentino Cortizo, President of Panama, and Milciades Concepción, Minister of Environment, signed the decree to substantially expand the limits of the Banco Volcán Area of Managed Resources (Banco Volcán AMR) to further protect and steward important marine ecosystems, endangered flora and fauna, and important fishing resources found within Panama’s territorial waters in the Caribbean Sea. The expansion increases the size of the Banco Volcán AMR from approximately 14,200 sq km to over 90,000 sq km, with at least half of the total zone designated as a fully protected marine area where no extractive or environmentally damaging activities will be allowed.…

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East Antarctic Hope Spot Highlights Ecological Importance and Need for Comprehensive Protection of Marine Life

Featured image: John Weller
(EAST ANTARCTICA) – 
The East Antarctic region is distinctive and dynamic, yet less well understood than other regions of the Antarctic. The remote, extreme, cold areas of East Antarctica remain largely untouched by human intervention. However, increased human activities and associated infrastructure could have long-lasting effects on the environment. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) is developing international campaigns to designate the East Antarctic marine protected area (MPA). The campaign focuses on building support for the designation by countries that are Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). This plan includes raising the international profile of Antarctic conservation so that it remains a priority for decision-makers.
 
 
Mission Blue recognizes Claire Christian, Executive Director of ASOC, and Kimberly Aiken, Research and Policy Associate with ASOC as the Hope Spot Champions of the East Antarctic Hope Spot in recognition of their efforts to encourage continued international collaboration to protect Antarctica.…

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Dutch King and Queen to Visit Mission Blue’s Newest Hope Spot: Saba and the Saba Bank

Header image: Aerial shot of Saba Island (c) Daniel Norwood
(SABA MARINE PARK, SABA DUTCH CARIBBEAN) –
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands will be on Saba Island on February 9th, 2023, to learn more about the innovative urchin restoration project at the Saba Research Center. The new laboratory is located at the island’s Fort Bay harbor. The facility will be overseen by the Saba Conservation Foundation and is expected to attract visiting scientists to study Saba’s resilient marine life. The Saba Research Center will be the first marine lab in the Windward islands of the Dutch Caribbean where applied research can take place.
 
 
International marine conservation organization Mission Blue has declared Saba and the Saba Bank a Hope Spot in recognition of the ongoing efforts to ensure long-term sustainability and health for the island’s waters by many, including Hope Spot Champions Lynn Costenaro, Founding Director and Emily Malsack, Operational Director of the Sea & Learn Foundation.…

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