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World’s First Deep-Water Coral Marine Protected Area Established in 1984 Off Florida Coast Now Facing Threat
Can the Biden-Harris administration move forward with America the Beautiful Plan if NOAA and Regional Fishery Management Councils Move Backwards? Friday, April 29, 2022Seattle, WA, USA Contacts: Mike Gravitz, Director of Policy and LegislationMarine Conservation InstituteMichael.Gravitz@marine-conservation.org301 351 5052 cell Dr. Lance Morgan, PresidentMarine Conservation InstituteLance.Morgan@marine-conservation.org+1 707 217 8242 cell Shari Anker, PresidentConservation Alliance of St.…
Read MoreDon’t celebrate Earth Day for the Earth or the Ocean. Do it for yourself, your children and their children!
Don’t try to save the Earth on Earth Day. Does this seem like heresy coming from an ocean conservation blog? The Earth has pleaded her case since the first Earth Day in 1970, over and over for more than 50 years. Many have heeded her cry for help — yet in many ways the world…
Read MoreMeet the 2022 Blue Park Award nominees, and help us evaluate them!
Blue Park Awards recognize outstanding marine protected areas (MPAs) that are safeguarding life in the sea. Nominees for the award go through a rigorous assessment using Blue Parks science-based criteria. They are the MPAs that are in the right places, with the right rules, and the right management to effectively protect marine wildlife. We are…
Read MoreBottom Trawling Threatens Rare Coral Reef Ecosystem – Again
By David Derrick, Ocean Conservation Advocacy Intern Featured Image: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Off the Eastern coast of Florida there lies a unique marine ecosystem called the Oculina Coral Bank: the only known place in the world where deep-sea Oculina varicosa corals form reef structures. Several hundred feet below the surface this fragile coral…
Read MoreMeet Our Favorite Marine Biogeographer!
Dr. Sam Georgian sometimes spends several weeks at sea on research cruises that explore the mysteries of the seafloor. Even after he returns from expeditions, Sam’s dreams take place on ships for months afterward! This adventurer and ocean explorer is a biogeographer at Marine Conservation Institute. More often than not, his current research involves sitting…
Read MoreA Blue Park Becomes the Largest Fully Protected Marine Reserve in the North Atlantic
Featured Image: Giant anemone (Telmatactis cricoides) with white-striped cleaner shrimp (Lysmata grabhami). Photograph by Andy Mann, National Geographic Pristine Seas Off the northwestern shores of Africa, Madeira’s Ilhas Selvagens—the Savage Islands—are rugged and remote, inhabited only by park rangers, nesting seabirds, and endemic geckos. Enormous ocean swells sweep past the skeletons of old shipwrecks, churning…
Read MoreMapping ocean protection, part 3
This is part of an ongoing series of video tutorials exploring the Marine Protection Atlas. Check out the first one here, and the second one here. What if you could choose a travel destination based not just on how beautiful is, but also on how well-protected it is? What if you had the tools to understand how…
Read MoreMapping ocean protection, part 2
This is part of an ongoing series of video tutorials exploring the Marine Protection Atlas. Check out the first one here. What if you could choose a travel destination based not just on how beautiful is, but also on how well-protected it is? What if you had the tools to understand how your local bay or favorite surf…
Read MoreA map can reveal the real-time status of ocean protection around the world. How does it work?
What if you could choose a travel destination based not just on how beautiful is, but also on how well-protected it is? What if you had the tools to understand how your local bay or favorite surf break is managed—tools that could help you advocate to improve those protections and save the wild ocean places…
Read MoreFive Feats to Celebrate from 2021!
As Marine Conservation Institute successfully concludes our 25th year (missed our Anniversary Gala? Watch here!), it is a time for reflecting on our most recent year of achievements. Our lean, smart team has been hard at work in 2021 to advocate for and protect extraordinary ocean places—from publishing significant contributions in Science and Nature, to…
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