Sea of Opportunities

With all the science that points us to the needs and means of marine conservation, the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative shows that human will is most vital in our efforts to protect the oceans.

- TERESA CHEUNG

The facts make for uneasy - albeit, unsurprising reading. A recent study by the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services shows that over onethird of marine mammals are now threatened with extinction. More disconcertingly, research by UNESCO points to plastic likely outweighing all fish in the sea by 2050. But the fight must go on. Demonstrating unwavering optimism, oceanographer Sylvia Earle, a Rolex Testimonee since 1982, and legendary marine conservation scientist, isn't one to view the glass as half empty. Instead, she chose to call the areas of the oceans in the most desperate need for protection "Hope Spots".

There are currently over 160 Hope Spots covering an estimated 57.5 million square kilometres of ocean. Identified by Earle's marine conservation initiative, Mission Blue, which she founded in 2009, these spots include richly biodiverse regions such as the Azores Archipelago and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, as well as the far-flung Central Arctic Ocean, the only remaining place in the Arctic to be free from the impacts of commercial fishing.

Mission Blue's to-do list for the Hope Spots is exhaustive. It includes rallying global ocean conservation groups, lobbying corporate organisations, educating the public by all means necessary (from evocative documentaries to catchy Instagram stories) ―all while embarking on regular oceanic expeditions to study ecosystems and build support for their protection.

However, even with Earle's track record of spending over 7,000 hours underwater and leading more than 100 marine expeditions, she couldn't have done it alone.

Nor should she. Since 2014, Rolex has supported Mission Blue to help protect 30 per cent of the world's seas by 2030. It is a race against time, a deadline based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) recommended target for safeguarding ocean health. But Earle is confident, not least in her belief in the collective effort.