L’Université de la Polynésie française, a le plaisir de vous inviter jeudi 8 juin à 16h, à l’auditorium du Pôle Recherche
The Pristine Seas Global Expedition: saving vital places in the ocean Amid an escalation of threats to the ocean—from plastics and global warming to overfishing-- National Geographic Pristine Seas has recently launched The Global Expedition, a bold new ocean venture. Building on our legacy of helping to establish 26 marine protected areas worldwide, covering over 6.5 million square kilometers, and generating hundreds of scientific publications and over 30 documentary films, we are spending the next five years exploring the remote tropical Pacific on a mission to support local conservation efforts in the world’s most diverse ocean ecosystem. Our previous efforts have highlighted that remote locations offer an unparalleled glimpse into how natural ecosystems function in the absence of direct human influences. These are the only true baselines we have to understand what we have lost elsewhere and to provide fundamental insights needed for conservation and restoration efforts.
We have just completed the first leg of The Global Expedition to the remote Southern Line Islands (SLI) of Kiribati where we examined why are the SLI reefs resilient to climate change when other places have not. During this global expedition, we are using a wide variety of tools from simple to complex to study everything from whales and sharks down to microscopic organisms. These methods include conventional scuba, technical diving, multiple camera systems to probe the offshore waters and the deep sea down to 6,000 m, as well as a 3-person submersible with a depth range down to 400 m.
The National Geographic Pristine Seas team is working aboard their expedition-outfitted vessel, the E/V Argo, collaborating with central and western Pacific Island nation governments, communities, Indigenous and local people, and local marine scientists. Together we are studying, documenting, and identifying the potential for expanded protections in waters crucial to the survival of the Blue Pacific Continent. We ultimately hope to support the establishment of new marine protected areas, each with sustainable management and financing plans. The mission’s success is critical to a broader effort to fight global warming, food insecurity, and nature loss by protecting 30% of the planet by 2030 (30x30).
