Exploring and protecting the last wild places of the ocean
The ocean. It covers 70 percent of the planet and shelters an incredible diversity of life. It gives us food, jobs, and more than half the oxygen we breathe. We swim and sail it, travel to be near it, and learn from it.
But we’re taking too many fish out of the ocean, polluting it, and making it warmer and more acidic. Yet less than five percent of it is protected.
National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala launched the Pristine Seas project in 2008 to explore and help save the last wild places in the ocean. These unique ecosystems are a window into the past, revealing what the ocean looked like before overfishing and pollution took their toll. It is essential that we let the world know that these places exist, that they are threatened, and that help is needed to protect them. Read more.
The Pristine Seas team is currently exploring Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Learn More
We’ve explored some of the wildest places in the ocean. See what we’ve discovered.
Dates at Sea: March 2019 Country: Costa Rica
The Osa Peninsula is known for the remarkably high diversity of fauna and flora that it harbors. Once an island in the Pacific, the Osa Peninsula evolved in isolation until it merged with mainland Costa Rica two million years ago by way of the same fault line that extends to California.
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Dates at Sea: January to February 2017 Country: Chile Located on the southernmost point of South America, Cape Horn and the surrounding Magallanes region are home to a wild ocean ecosystem that includes abundant marine mammals and seabirds and the world’s southernmost kelp forest. The area serves as an important nesting ground for a variety of birds, including the black-browed albatross and rockhopper penguin.
Dates at Sea: March 2016 Country: France
One of the most remote tropical islands on Earth, uninhabited Clipperton Atoll is home to a biologically significant interior lagoon that’s rich in nutrients and supports extensive seagrass beds. In its surrounding waters, a high degree of coral cover, a strong population of sharks, and an abundance of endemic fishes all indicate a vibrant ecosystem. Yet even at this far-flung outpost, clear evidence of fishing pressure exists.
Dates at Sea: September 2009 Country: Costa Rica
Well-known to seasoned divers, Cocos Island's nutrient-rich waters provide ideal feeding grounds that anchor the food chain. On their expedition here, the team tagged sharks, tracked sea turtles, and became the first to use a submersible to explore a remote pair of seamounts known as Las Gemelas. In September 2016, an expansion of the existing Cocos Island National Park was announced, nearly quadrupling the area where fishing is restricted.
Dates at Sea: February to March 2013 Country: Chile
The islands of San Ambrosio and San Félix lie amid some of the most pristine waters in the eastern Pacific. The Humboldt Current, running between the islands and mainland Chile, creates a biogeographic barrier responsible for the unique diversity of life found here—a mix of marine species from tropical, subtropical, and temperate zones. The Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, established around the islands in 2015, is the largest marine reserve in the Americas.
Dates at Sea: July to August 2013 Country: Russia
Franz Josef Land is the world’s northernmost archipelago, and its wildlife depends on the sea ice for survival. During their expedition here, the team conducted land and underwater surveys and were rewarded with plenty of surprises, including the first deep-sea footage of the rare Greenland shark. In 2016, the islands were included in an expansion of the Russian Arctic National Park that created not only the largest protected area in Russia but also the largest marine reserve in the Arctic.
Dates at Sea: October 2012 Country: Gabon
Off the coast of Gabon, marine life feeds on inland nutrients carried from freshwater rivers to the sea, while offshore oil platforms have become a reef-like habitat for fishes large and small. A 46,000-square-kilometer MPA network covers 26 percent of Gabon’s water and protects, among other marine creatures, 20 species of whales and dolphins and four species of marine turtles.
Dates at Sea: December 2015Country: Ecuador
Reached by four major ocean currents, the Galápagos Islands are a hotspot of biodiversity, with some of its species found nowhere else on Earth. Offshore, the islands harbor over 2,900 known species of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals. A new marine sanctuary announced in 2016 will protect about 40,000 square kilometers around the islands of Wolf and Darwin—home to the sharkiest waters on Earth.
Dates at Sea: March 2017Country: Chile
The Juan Fernández islands are recognized as a distinct ecoregion that’s home to a high percentage of rare and endemic plants and animals, including the Juan Fernández fur seal and two petrel species. Despite being close to the South American continent, the islands’ marine flora and fauna more closely resemble those found in the central and South Pacific due to the biogeographic barrier created by the Humboldt Current.
Dates at Sea: April to May 2018Country: Colombia
Partnering with Fundación Malpelo and the National Parks of Colombia, the Pristine Seas team is carrying out an expedition to Malpelo Island and conduct comprehensive surveys of the health of this region’s marine environment.
Dates at Sea: November 2013Country: France
Off the remote coral islands and atolls of New Caledonia, an incredible abundance of marine life thrives in pristine waters. In the west, the Chesterfield Islands serve as the most important rookery in the South Pacific for green sea turtles, and at Astrolabe Reef—just north of the mainland—the team encountered a school of bumphead parrotfish with as many as 75 individuals.
Dates at Sea: September 2016
This raised coral atoll in the South Pacific is home to a wide variety of geological features, including steep limestone cliffs and exposed coral formations. The remote, submerged atoll of Beveridge Reef harbors a significant array of marine life, including pristine corals in its shallow lagoon. The team saw sharks on every dive here and heard the song of calving humpback whales. Deep-water footage revealed the first ever sighting of Galápagos sharks at the reef.
Dates at Sea: January 2005 to January 2007 Country: United States and Kiribati
The waters surrounding the northern Line Islands preserve some of the world’s most pristine habitats and are home to proportionally more top predators than any other area studied in the world. In January 2009 President George W. Bush proclaimed a group of seven U.S. territories (including Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll in the northern Line Islands) as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Five years later, the Obama Administration announced an expansion of the monument, creating what was at the time the largest marine reserve in the world.
Dates at Sea: September 2014 Country: Palau
A tropical archipelago in the western Pacific, Palau’s pristine dive sites draw visitors from around the world. In October 2015, the country passed legislation to protect 80 percent of the its waters—the largest percentage of protected marine territory of any nation in the world. The resulting sanctuary will help to ensure the long-term sustainability of marine resources, improve local fisheries, and support increased diving tourism revenues.
Dates at Sea: March to April 2012 Country: United Kingdom
Home to fewer than 60 people, many descended from mutineers of the H.M.S. Bounty, the Pitcairn Islands harbor marine wildlife in an almost pristine state. During a monthlong expedition here, the team explored the waters surrounding Ducie, Henderson, Oeno, and Pitcairn, as well as 40 Mile Reef, the deepest well-developed coral reef known to man. Following the expedition, the Pitcairn community voted unanimously in favor of creating a no-take marine reserve covering the islands’ entire exclusive economic zone.
Dates at Sea: March 2016 Country: Mexico
The waters surrounding the four volcanic islands of Revillagigedo contain one of the largest aggregations of sharks and manta rays in the world, as well as tuna, humpback whales, and five species of sea turtles. During their expedition here, the team explored never before surveyed seamounts, sampled shark populations, and observed unique sea fan gardens at a depth of over 80 meters.
Dates at Sea: February 2010 to March 2011 Country: Chile
Off the coast of Chile, the unprotected waters of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, have been depleted of sharks and other large fish. But 320 kilometers away, Sala y Gómez, or Motu Motiro Hiva, is home to an abundance of marine life, including large predators such as sharks, amberjacks, and trevally. Yet the team saw clear evidence of recent fishing and even intercepted an illegal fishing boat. To protect these waters, the creation of a 150,000-square-kilometer marine reserve around Sala y Gómez was announced in October 2010.
Dates at Sea: March 2015 Country: Seychelles
The Outer Islands of the Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, are home to miniature worlds that contain untouched habitats teeming with life. The team sailed 965 kilometers to reach these remote islands, stopping at Assumption, Cosmoledo, Astove, and Aldabra, one of the world’s largest coral atolls and a refuge for hundreds of endemic species and subspecies.
Dates at Sea: March to April 2009 Country: Kiribati
The five tiny isles of the southern Line Islands are among the most isolated atolls on Earth. The marine food web here, top-heavy with predators, is an example of the “inverted biomass pyramid,” a sign of reef health. In 2014 Kiribati President Anote Tong announced that a 12-nautical-mile area around the southern Line Islands would be closed to commercial fishing beginning in 2015 Read more
Dates at Sea: February 2018 Country: Argentina
The Argentine island of Isla de los Estados lies 29 kilometers off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, aptly nicknamed the “End of the World.”
Dates at Sea: January 2019 Country: None
This region is of particular interest to scientists and conservationists because Antarctica is one of the fastest warming places on Earth, and glacier retreat on the continent is causing environmental shifts that could significantly affect coastal seafloor ecosystems.
Dates at Sea: May to June 2017 Country: United Kingdom
In collaboration with the Ascension Island Conservation Department, the British Antarctic Survey, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and The Blue Marine Foundation, the Pristine Seas team most recently conducted an expedition to explore, survey, and document Ascension Island’s offshore and deep-sea environments.
Dates at Sea: June 2018 Country: Portugal
In partnership with the Oceano Azul Foundation, the Waitt Foundation, and the Regional Government of the Azores, the Pristine Seas team is conducting a scientific expedition to explore the waters around the Azores — including never before surveyed seamounts.
Dates at Sea: October 2014 Country: France
The southernmost islands of French Polynesia, remote Rapa Iti and the rocky islets of Marotiri have been free of the intense fishing and development that have altered other areas in recent centuries. Inhabiting their waters are a large number of endemic species, and the existence of two contrasting habitats in Rapa’s waters increases the diversity of the seascape.
Dates at Sea: September 2015 Country: Portugal
Located nearly midway between Madeira and the Canary Islands, this small archipelago—Portugal’s southernmost territory—is recognized as an important nesting site for numerous bird species. The team’s expedition here found that the islands’ open waters appear to be a vital waypoint for migrating fish and mammals in the Atlantic and that intermediate depths and reefs may serve as important nursery habitat.
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Dates at Sea: April 2014 Country: Mozambique
The waters surrounding southern Mozambique’s Inhambane Bay are home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of marine megafauna, including manta rays, whale sharks, and bull sharks, as well as regionally endangered dugongs. But climate change, coastal development, and offshore oil and gas drilling threaten the region’s pristine reefs, which exist on the border between subtropical and tropical climate zones. On their expedition here, the team traveled 350 kilometers from Zavora Point to the Bazaruto Archipelago to uncover the mysteries of this important transition zone.
Dates at Sea: March to April 2015, June 2015Country: Canada and Greenland
As the sea ice declines, the Last Ice Area—located north of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island—will likely harbor the largest concentration of Arctic wildlife dependent on this ice for survival, including bowhead whales, seals, narwhals, and polar bears. To raise awareness of these dramatic changes in the high Arctic, the team worked closely with Inuit communities to document their stories and traditions and record the ways in which Inuit culture is connected to the extraordinary wildlife.
Dates at Sea: January to February 2017 Country: United Kingdom
The most remote inhabited island in the world, Tristan da Cunha sits between the South Atlantic and Circumpolar Currents, making it a hotspot of biodiversity both on land and at sea. Comprised of four islands, Tristan is home to several species of whales and sharks, as well as elephant seals, sub-Antarctic fur seals, and rockhopper penguins. The team found that it may be a refuge for migratory blue sharks—the most heavily fished in the world.
On Saturday, March 30, 2019, join the National Geographic Societyand the National Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere ofARCTICA, a symphony inspired by the Arctic.
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With up to five expeditions per year, we’re never far from our next exploration. Follow along on Instagram and Twitter as exciting moments unfold.
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