Covering ~ 102,000 km2, the Great Bear Sea extends from the top of Vancouver Island to the Canada-Alaska border. One of the richest and most productive cold-water marine ecosystems on Earth, it is home to a rich diversity of marine life that has sustained native communities for millennia.

Canada’s Great Bear Sea

As a bi-oceanic country that touches both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, roughly 45% (900,000 km2) of Colombia’s territory is marine. The combined Pacific and Caribbean exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Colombia covers some of the most important biological hotspots in the world, crucial for migratory species.

Colombia

The Banco Volcán AMR is a remote, offshore marine protected area (MPA) on the Caribbean side of Panama. The area was designated to conserve a sub-marine volcanic mountain range where strong currents and frequent upwelling occur.

Panama’s Banco Volcán

The protected area contains nine mountain ranges, twenty-four seamounts, and an abyssal trench that extends to depths of 4,745 meters. The region is home to over 322 fish and mammal species, 12 of which are protected according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Panama’s Cordillera de Coiba

The Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain is a mostly underwater 6,000 km long mountain range in the North Pacific Ocean that is inhabited by some of the oldest known species on Earth.

Emperor Seamount Chain

The ocean and seas surrounding Europe comprise a large eco-region, rich in biodiversity, that serves as a significant resource for nations across the European Union. Approximately 40% of Europeans reside in coastal areas where the ocean underlies a heritage of cultural identity and history.

Europe

The waters of the southern Gulf of Guinea represent a key transition area between the warmer, more turbid waters of the Gulf of Guinea and the cooler waters of the Benguela Current. These seasonal upwelling zones support important coastal fisheries and several globally important marine populations.

Gulf of Guinea

Ireland’s exclusive economic zone covers nearly a half million square kilometers, making it among the largest in Europe. The area supports a rich diversity of coastal and marine habitats.

Ireland

Indonesia has diverse and productive coastal ecosystems that provide many social and economic benefits for more than 180 million people who live near the nation&#8217;s coastlines.

Indonesia

The Lau archipelago is composed of a thriving network of nearly 60 islands. This reservoir of tropical marine life supports the livelihoods of roughly 5,600 Indigenous people who call Lau home – a population whose genealogy on the islands dates back over 1,000 years.

Fiji’s Lau Seascape

Known as &#8216;the rock of Polynesia&#8217;, Niue is both the world’s largest uplifted atoll and one of the smallest countries in the world, with a land surface of only 259 km2. Located approximately 2,400 km northeast of New Zealand, the island nation has a marine territory 1,200 times larger than its land mass.

Niue

The waters around Baja California Sur provide critical habitat for endangered, highly migratory marine species. The area is also a critical source of foraging fish, which are the base for a highly productive marine ecosystem and the primary food source for many predatory species.

Mexico’s Dos Mares Biosphere Reserve

New Caledonia is home to the largest lagoon in the world and the second largest barrier reef system after the Great Barrier Reef, with six areas recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

New Caledonia’s Natural Park of the Coral Sea

BirdLife International identified the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea Basin as an important area for seabirds, being used by at least 21 unique species and up to 5 million birds throughout the year.

North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea Basin (NACES)

Located at the origin of the Kurushio Current, this Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area plays an important role in global nutrient and larvae transport. Expeditions to the area have documented levels of biodiversity and productivity unmatched throughout the rest of the Philippines.

Philippine Rise

Revillagigedo National Park hosts one of the greatest concentrations of tropical marine megafauna in North America. Islands within the park – Socorro, Clarión, San Benedicto, and Roca Partida – generate nutrient-rich upwellings and provide a critical waypoint for migratory species.

Mexico’s Revillagigedo National Park

The Cocos Island National Park and its surrounding Bicentennial Marine Management Area collectively form Costa Rica&#8217;s largest marine protected area (MPA). Renowned for its biological significance, the MPA safeguards a diverse marine ecosystem characterized by high endemism, critical pelagic species habitat, and some of the Eastern Tropical Pacific&#8217;s most diverse coral reefs.

Costa Rica’s Cocos Island

This vast underwater mountain range spans 2,900 km off the coast of Chile and Peru. Isolated from the coast by the Humboldt Current and a deep trench, the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges contain over 110 seamounts that create critical habitat for many species found nowhere else on Earth.

Salas y Gómez and Nazca Ridges

The Southwest Atlantic, including Uruguay’s marine territory, is one of our planet’s richest marine environments. Its surrounding waters support important migratory routes and key fishing species.

Uruguay

Samoa’s ocean area accounts for 98% of its national territory and has sustained the country&#8217;s Indigenous residents for over 3000 years.

Samoa

Located within the Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean Biodiversity Hotspot, Seychelles&#8217; marine environment features large and pristine coral reef complexes and hosts scores of iconic species such as endangered dugongs and turtles.

Seychelles

With 992 islands, atolls, and cays, the Solomon Islands hold one of the largest ocean areas in the Pacific, with an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1,605,325 km2 (an area slightly larger than Mongolia). Located in the Bismarck Solomon Seas Ecoregion, it hosts some of the highest levels of marine biodiversity in the world.

Solomon Islands

Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island on Earth, is a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic with a population of approximately 250 people. Four islands make up the Tristan da Cunha archipelago: Nightingale, Tristan, Inaccessible, and Gough. The latter two are collectively recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tristan da Cunha

The coastal and marine habitats of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) support rich and complex populations of marine species. This region generates about 4.8% of the global fish catch, equivalent to about 4.5 million tons of fish per year.

Western Indian Ocean

Over the past few years, Chile has gained worldwide recognition for its progress in establishing large-scale marine protected areas. The country now has the enormous opportunity and challenge of maintaining this momentum and upholding their designations with effective and durable management systems.

Chile

The six Dutch Caribbean islands include three municipalities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba. and St. Eustatius) and three autonomous islands (Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten), located in the Caribbean Sea.

Dutch Caribbean

It is home to 10% of the world’s coral reefs, including the Mesoamerican Reef which is acknowledged as the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world and the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. The marine ecosystem of the region comprises over 16,000 species of fish and marine mammals.

Caribbean

The cold nutrient-rich waters of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem serve as a hotspot for marine biodiversity and food production. Spanning Angola, Namibia, and South Africa’s west coast, the region is home to 20+ commercial fish species, numerous marine mammals, and an array of seabirds.

Benguela Current

Canada is a maritime nation with deep and longstanding social, cultural, and economic ties to the sea. At 5.75 million km2, Canada’s marine territory spans three oceans — the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific.

Canada’s Arctic & Atlantic

The Ross Sea region MPA is the world’s largest protected area and is widely considered to be the crown jewel of the Southern Ocean, with icy waters that support a vibrant and highly productive ecosystem.

Antarctica’s Ross Sea

Antarctica’s Southern Ocean is home to nearly 10,000 unique species and is a critical area for maintaining the health and stability of the global ocean. The proposed network of MPAs contains the breeding and foraging grounds for several species of penguins, seals, and whales.

Antarctica’s Southern Ocean

Working across the global ocean, the Blue Nature Alliance’s partnerships cover conservation efforts in coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves, and kelp forests, as well as open ocean areas like seamounts and essential fish habitats.

Where We Partner

Pacific

Atlantic

Indian

Arctic

Antarctic/Southern

Coast Funds

Coastal First Nations

Na̲nwak̲olas Council

Colombian Ministry of the Environment

World Wildlife Fund

Fundación Malpelo

Conservation International

Herencia Colombia (HECO)

Panamanian Ministry of Environment

SeaLegacy

MigraMar

Skylight

WildAid Marine

Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC)

Seas At Risk

Oceana

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

Fair Seas

Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries

Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF)

Konservasi Indonesia (KI)

McKinsey & Company

Ripple

DevDocs

Chapman Tripp

Tofia Niue

Government of Niue

Beta Diversidad

DEPESCA

Customary Senate of New Caledonia

BirdLife International

Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR)

Fishery Management Area 1 Management Board (FMA1 MB)

Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP)

Friends of Cocos Island (FAICO)

Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition

Corporacion Nacional de Desarrollo

Fundacion Vida Silvestre Uruguay

Karumbe

Ministry of Environment of Uruguay

Uruguay Ministry of Environment

Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MNRE)

The National Ocean Steering Committee (NOSC)

Samoan Voyaging Society

The Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT)

Ministry of Agriculture Climate Change and Environment (Seychelles)

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

Ministry of Environment of Solomon Islands

Tristan da Cunha Island Council

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

National Geographic Pristine Seas

Becht Family Charitable Trust

Blue Marine Foundation

Wyss Foundation

Don Quixote II Foundation

Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA)

National Service of Fishing and Aquaculture (SERNAPESCA)

Undersecretary of Fishing and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA)

Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP)

Local Sea Council of Rapa Nui

The Pew Charitable Trusts

Cape Horn International Center

Cape Horn International Center (CHIC)

Omora Foundation