Bold Move! a Small Territory Protects 90% of Its Water (and It Has Lots of It…)

A minuscule British territory has established the largest marine protected area in the Atlantic Ocean – and the fourth largest in the world – thus protecting 90% of its waters.

“Tristan da Cunha is a place like no other,” says Beccy Speight, the chief executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the United Kingdom. “The waters that surround this remote U.K. Overseas Territory are some of the richest in the world. Tens of millions of seabirds soar above the waves, penguins and seals cram onto the beaches, threatened sharks breed offshore and mysterious whales feed in the deep-water canyons. From today, we can say all of this is protected.”

The area covers 265,347 square miles and has been designated as a “no-take zone”, meaning that all fishing, mining, and extraction is prohibited. The territory of Tristan da Cunha is home to 250 residents and to abundant wildlife, including the endangered Yellow-nosed albatross, Sevengill sharks, Rockhopper penguins, and 11 species of whales and dolphins. The protection of these waters benefits the animals living in the ocean as well as the millions of seabirds that inhabit the group of four islands.