“We are at a point where we can choose between a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean,” Carlos Duarte, a marine biologists at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and lead author of the new research, said in a statement.
Each photo is by Charmaine Coimbra. These photos were shot with either a 300 mm or 40-150 mm lens. Regulations and guidelines have been developed with specific recommendations and distances for viewing whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, sea… Read More ›
The commercial fishing industry had opposed the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, saying that prohibiting commercial fishing in the two areas would cripple the industry. But according to Brad Sewell, oceans attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, two years after designating those protected areas, the numbers tell a different story.
The three-million-acre monument was designated in September 2016 by former-president Barrack Obama under authority granted by the 1906 Antiquities Act. Since then, commercial fishing, with the exception of lobster and red crab fishing, has been banned within the monuments boundaries.
In Zinke’s report, he recommends the authority for regulating fishing in the area be returned to the New England Fishery Management Council, which was established under the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
2016 was quite a year! From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every National Marine Sanctuary System employee, contractor, partner and advisory council member for your contribution to the many successes we have achieved during… Read More ›
The oceans have absorbed a third of all the carbon dioxide emitted since the Industrial Revolution and have helped deflect extreme warming. But recent research has shown that climate change has made seawater acidity rise faster than at any time in the last 55 million years, with unpredictable and potentially disastrous consequences for life. What can we do?
Oceans offer natural benefits that sustain coastal economies, provide diverse opportunities for the tourism sector and help to protect communities against natural disasters, amongst other benefits. Therefore, maintaining the health of these marine ecosystems is essential.
“Today’s action by British Prime Minister David Cameron will protect the true bounty of the Pitcairn Islands — the array of unique marine life in the surrounding pristine seas,” said National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala, head of the Society’s Pristine Seas project. “Our scientific exploration of the area revealed entirely new species as well as an abundance of top predators like sharks. It was like traveling to a new world full of hidden and unknown treasures, a world that will now be preserved for generations to come.”
WASHINGTON — After more than a decade of effort by California lawmakers, the Obama administration gave final approval Thursday to a giant expansion of two marine sanctuaries off the coast north of San Francisco that will protect one of the… Read More ›
By Juliet Eilperin September 25 at 9:37 AM President Obama used his legal authority Thursday to create the world’s largest fully protected marine reserve in the central Pacific Ocean, demonstrating his increased willingness to advance a conservation agenda without… Read More ›
Neptune 911! 