By Vanessa Bauza
June 6, 2024
On World Oceans Day, charting a new course for our seas
3 min
It’s the origin and the engine of life on our blue planet.
Fortunately, 2024 has been an eventful year in marine conservation. In honor of World Oceans Day, take a dive into some of the studies and successes that are helping to chart a new course for the health of our oceans.
As marine protected areas go, Peru’s newly designated Mar Tropical de Grau National Reserve is small but mighty, spanning an area just larger than New York City. But like the Big Apple, it’s densely populated — home to roughly 70 percent of Peru’s marine wildlife. The reserve culminates a decade-long collaboration between local communities, government agencies and environmental organizations to protect the fishery. Conservation International’s ocean expert in Peru shares what it took to make it happen.
Humpback whales travel to the Mar Tropical de Grau each year to give birth.
Mining could smother coral reefs, critical habitat for reef mantas and other marine life in Raja Ampat.
Off the coasts of Chile and Peru, scientists on a month-long expedition were “blown away” by a trove of species that are likely new to science: thousand-year-old corals and a bright red fish that uses its fins to move across the sea floor, to name just a few. The deep-sea discoveries make the strongest case yet for protecting the “high seas.”
One of the new species spotted is this fish that uses its fins like hands to "walk" on the sea floor.
Shark attacks are rare, but climate change and tourism are putting people and sharks in closer contact than ever. Now a South African startup supported by Conservation International is pioneering a better way to keep surfers and swimmers safe — without harming sharks. Here’s how they have built a more effective and environmentally-sound shark barrier.
SharkSafe Barriers mimics a kelp forest and uses powerful magnets to deter sharks.
Stay close to the work
