Are coral reefs really doomed?

Since starting to regularly venture out into the pelagic zone 10 years ago, Jorge Cervera Hauser has filmed and photographed some of the most fascinating marine species on the planet. He spoke to us about finding new ways of doing conservation and working alongside fishing communities in Mexico to develop open ocean ecotourism.

For 20 days, a team of expeditioners set out to tag sharks along the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway, all in the effort of protecting marine species from human pressures. For one grant-winning participant, it was a novel experience and a renewal of hope.

As a scientist, activist, and environmental policy plaintiff, Randall Arauz has seen how doing diligent research in the field is a pathway to enacting change in the courtroom. With his attention now focused on the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape, he’s looking to once again use data-driven science to preserve this jeopardized ecosystem and the small-scale fishers who depend on it.

Many of us are deeply disconnected from the ocean, the origin of our very existence. Stuck as we are to land, it’s become easy to see the ocean as an endless dumpster for our wastes, a source to feed all our wild consumption. But collective movements give us hope, and creating and expanding strong marine protected areas can bring back the richness and abundance of ocean life.

Krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean, underpins the food web of the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem. Yet climate change and the concentration of krill fishing in just a few areas are a threat to their existence, and therefore to the existence of all species in Antarctica.

In 2015, West Papua declared the world’s first conservation province. There’s so much we can celebrate about and learn from this visionary legislation rooted in ancient wisdom.

The cold fjords surrounding Lofoten in Norway display an orca ballet, and a remarkable feeding behavior that few have ever seen. In 2019, the courage of young people protected this area of natural beauty from oil drilling.

When we think of sharks as mindless killers, we forget their vital place in the ocean ecosystem. But targeted for their prized fins and meat, mako sharks desperately need protections from us.

Titouan Bernicot discovered at age 16 that the beautiful and vital corals surrounding his island home of Mo'orea were dying. Taking it upon himself to restore the reef, he founded the nonprofit Coral Gardeners. Here he tells his story.