The US president has established a new marine reserve to protect a vast area of the Atlantic, characterised by underwater canyons rich in biodiversity.
US President Barack Obama's term is drawing to a close, yet there is still one mission to accomplish: protecting the oceans. As Obama himself has stated, "our planet cannot be protected without trying to safeguard the seas," indispensable allies in the fight against climate change.
Having recently quadrupled the Papahanaumokuakea marine reserve in Hawaii, Obama has established the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean, named the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Within the new protected area, located off the coast of New England and covering nearly 13,000 square kilometres (an area almost as large as the state of Connecticut), oil and gas extraction, drilling and commercial fishing will all be prohibited.
The reserve encompasses three underwater canyons (deeper than the Grand Canyon) and four seamounts, and owing to its distinctive character it has been nicknamed the "Yellowstone of the sea." These places represent an ideal refuge for numerous animal and plant species, including rare and threatened ones; Kemp's ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), the world's most endangered sea turtle species, and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) swim here, while kelp forests and large cold-water coral formations grow throughout the area.
Protecting the oceans and seas is not a victory only for the creatures that inhabit them or the people who live nearby — it is a gift to the entire world. The oceans play a fundamental role in regulating the planet's climate: these enormous bodies of water, which cover more than 70 per cent of the Earth, absorb approximately 40 per cent of the CO2 emissions generated by human activity every year. "By protecting ecologically sensitive areas of our ocean, the United States is advancing an important cause for people on every continent," reads a statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
