Ocean Conservancy Calls for Protection of U.S. Oceans
SEASCAPE
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, The Ocean Conservancy, formerly the Center for
Marine Conservation, issued a bold, new challenge to the American people and
the Bush Administration - protect at least five percent of our U.S. oceans
as ocean wilderness.
"We have an area beneath the waves that is 20 percent larger than the entire
land area of the United States," said Roger Rufe, president of The Ocean
Conservancy. "Our ocean territory is the 'other America' - one that we
don't protect or value enough. As a nation, we must value our oceans with
the same conservation ethic that has saved so much of our land from
destruction."
To do that, The Ocean Conservancy proposes protecting at least as much
wilderness in the ocean as the U.S. currently sets aside on land. The
National Wilderness Preservation System now includes 643 wilderness areas
covering nearly 106 million acres of land - the equivalent of nearly 5
percent of all the land in the United States.
"Over a century ago, visionaries like Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir took
steps to ensure the protection of our terrestrial crown jewels," said Rufe.
"There are places under the water that are just as spectacular as
Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Denali."
This "other" America is an underwater world full of mountains taller than
Mt. Everest, canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, volcanoes, geysers, and
wide-open plains. Some of these spectacular places are already within the
National Marine Sanctuary System. Unfortunately, what most Americans do not
realize is that in many ways, being designated a "sanctuary" is a misnomer.
Despite their strong mandate and name, most sanctuaries have provided only
limited protection from human activities, including almost no protection
from fishing.
"We must view the oceans in a new way - not as an infinite and inexhaustible
resource but as a fragile web of life that is being damaged by human
activities," said Rufe. "For centuries we have viewed our oceans as
playgrounds, fish factories, town dumps, sewers, and oil and gas patches -
when in fact they comprise a living breathing organism that makes all life
on this planet possible."
The Ocean Conservancy has identified five U.S. sites and one Caribbean site
that we believe would form the ideal cornerstones of a national and
international system of ocean wilderness. These sites include areas within
Glacier Bay and Prince William Sound in Alaska; the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands; the Channel Islands off the southern California coast; Florida's
Dry Tortugas, and the San Andres Archipelago off the coast of Nicaragua.
These six sites are unique, and contribute immensely to the planet's overall
health. In the months and years ahead, The Ocean Conservancy will work with
local and national partners to achieve ocean wilderness within each of these
flagship areas.
Prince William Sound, Alaska: Fed by the Gulf of Alaska, waters in Prince
William Sound are highly productive, supporting a wealth of marine life.
The nutrient-rich waters of the westward-moving Alaska Current combined with
long summer daylight hours create vast blooms of plankton that swirl around
the bend of the Gulf of Alaska and into the Sound. The 3,500 miles of
convoluted and nutrient-rich shores of the Sound are vital resting, feeding,
breeding, and nesting areas for millions of migrating birds and marine
mammals, linking it to such far-off places as Patagonia, the Sea of Cortez,
and Hawaii. The Sound contains perhaps the greatest cultural diversity in
Alaska. Indigenous cultures represented include: Southeast Indian,
Athabaskan, Eskimo, and Aleut.
Glacier Bay, Alaska: Glacier Bay is located in southeast Alaska, about 65
miles by air northwest of Juneau. The area was designated in 1980 as
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and stretches over three million
acres of both land and water. More than one-fifth of the park is purely
marine and home to over 200 species of fish. Glacier Bay is an important
foraging ground for several marine mammal including endangered Steller sea
lions and humpback whales.
Channel Islands, California: Five in a chain of eight islands near Los
Angeles, the Channel Islands are one of two places on Earth where two ocean
currents collide - the warm Californian water mass originating near the
equator - and the cold Alaskan water mass. The result is a one-of-a-kind
biological hotspot renowned for its diversity and abundance of fish, marine
mammals, and the largest congregations of blue whales anywhere in the
world - the biggest animals on earth. This transition zone brings together
communities of both warm and cold water organisms and ecosystems, resulting
in unique assemblages of creatures and natural features found together
nowhere else on the planet.
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii: Located 120 nautical miles west of
the main Hawaiian Islands and stretching northwest for more than 1,200
nautical miles, these islands are home to nearly 70 percent of all the coral
found in the United States and to the Hawaiian monk seal, the most
endangered marine mammal found exclusively in U.S. waters. Although
currently uninhabited, with the exception of Midway Island, the islands are
very important cultural and religious sites to indigenous Hawaiians. For
this reason, indigenous Hawaiians have been at the forefront of efforts to
protect this natural treasure.
Dry Tortugas, Florida: Seventy miles west of Key West, the Dry Tortugas are
a remote cluster of seven islands. The area includes the most undisturbed
marine habitats found in any one place in the United States, including
seagrass prairies and five different reef types. This incredibly diverse
region is home to a magnificent array of rare species, including black
coral, purple-mouthed moray eels, giant grouper, red-tail triggerfish, and
green sea turtles. The Tortugas boast the cleanest waters, highest
diversity of marine wildlife, and most productive fish stocks and spawning
habitats found anywhere in the Florida reef tracts.
San Andres Archipelago, Colombia: Located in the Caribbean Sea 500 miles
west-northwest of Cartagena, Colombia, the San Andres Archipelago consists
of three main islands, San Andres, Old Providence, and Santa Catalina-and
several uninhabited cays. The Archipelago harbors one of the largest and
most productive coral reef ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. It is also
home to 57 species of coral and over 270 species of fish.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, The Ocean Conservancy has regional offices
in Alaska, California, Florida, and Maine and field offices in Santa Barbara
and Santa Cruz, CA, Florida Keys, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the office
of Pollution Prevention and Monitoring in Virginia Beach, VA.
For more information, contact Tara Stewart or Gregg Schmidt Media Relations
The Ocean Conservancy 202-429-5609
Web site: http://www.oceanconservancy.org
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