Oba President Ma has included more than 2.2 million square kilometers of ocean in protected U.S. waters, but there is still a long way to go to protect the oceans. Pictured: A California sea lion hunts small fish on a seaweed mat in the Seamount Cortez Shoal near San Diego. Conservationists point out that this treasure of marine life deserves to be defended.
Cortez Shoal Pacific Pacific | 180 km west of Santiago In Cortez Shoal, a beautiful tuna and other fish species burrow through seaweed forests and coral algae. Seamounts rise more than 1,500 metres from the ocean floor, prompting nutrient-rich deep waters to move upwards, creating a fertile oasis.
Cortez Shoal is one of the busiest marine mammal farms in the world, with about thirty or forty species spending at least part of their time each year, including these northern indodominos, usually in groups of hundreds of them.
California mullets cruise through gardens of gorgeous shrimp seaweed and golden kelp that spread along the sub-ridges of cortez Shoals. It uses its long nose to dig up seagrass and sand, searching for mollusks, worms, and other delicacies in its recipes.
Cassis Ridge Gulf of Maine | 160 kilometers southeast of Boston Harbor On the highest underwater ridge in the Gulf of Maine, an Atlantic cod cruises across a peak covered in seaweed forests. Scientists say the 1,425-square-kilometer Cassis Ridge is a rare relic of New England's marine treasures that deserve protection.
A cuffed whale swallows a wave of water, and then relies on the whiskers to filter out copepods and other plankton. At cassis Ridge, the tide drives the inner waves, bringing a feast of herring, water birds and whales to the depths of the sea where cod and other benthic fish live.
Barker Island Caribbean | U.S. Virgin Islands St. Croix At the Buck Island Reef National Memorial Park, established by President Kennedy in 1961, protected staghorn corals demonstrate remarkable ability to recover from bleaching and disease. In this image, they are half-hidden behind moss corals and purple sea fans.
Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge is located on St. Croix Island, 35 km from Buck Island. A leatherback turtle is leaving the beach where it lays its eggs. These sheltered areas have allowed leatherback turtles and other sea turtles to hatch more young turtles, but some of these turtles remain endangered.