A new marine protection area on Marshall Islands is full of life, like a “time machine” to oceans a long time ago

A region of the Pacific Ocean, which is larger than Switzerland, is now completely protected from fishing thanks to the creation of a massive new marine sanctuary on the Marshall Islands.

The Marshall Islands are located in the West Central Pacific between the Philippines, Hawaii and French Polynesia. The new marine protection area comprises 18,500 square miles of water, which surrounds two remote North tollen named Bikar and Bokak.

“Bikar and Bokak’s coral reefs are a time machine like diving in the ocean from 1,000 years ago,” says Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas. “You are our best basic lines for what the ocean could look like if we really allow it.”

The uninhabited atmes are “blooming with life,” says Whitney Goodell, a marine ecologist at National Geographic Pristine Seas, BBC Wildlife MAgazineMelissa Hobson.

They are full of seabirds, deep-sea sharks, huge mussels, fish and coral intestines endangered bristle birds and Napoleon-Wraund-fish in need of protection. They also organize a large nesting colony with a large green sea turtle and a group of Bumphead papage fish, a kind of fish that is important for the health of coral reefs.

National Geographic Pristine Seas is an initiative that promotes the creation of new marine protected areas in cooperation with indigenous and local communities. Since the start in 2008, the project has contributed to building 29 Marine Sanctuary areas to more than two million square kilometers.

In 2023, researchers with national geographical seas and the Marine Islands Marine Resources Authority completed an exploration expedition to the atmes in order to learn more about the creatures that live up to 7,677 foot under the surface of the ocean.

They made 452 dives near Bikar, Bokak, Bikini and Rongerik-and spent about 643 hours under the water. They also examined the area with a diving and cameras and collected water samples for genetic tests.

“Bikar and Bokak were, if not the most flawless, some of the most flawless waters and coral reefs and coral aat rolls that we have ever seen everywhere on Earth” Caleb Foheringham.

Scientists informed their findings from this expedition with local decision -makers to inform a process called “Reimaanlok”, a traditional philosophy of Marshall Islands, which leads to “view of the future”. In the idea, the Reiermaanlok is rooted in the idea that the coastal communities best know how they can manage their local resources sustainably and fairly.

By protecting the waters around the atmes, the leaders of Marshall Islands hope to increase fish populations, which in turn offers food and jobs for coastal communities.

“The ocean, as our ancestors knew that it was disappearing,” says Hilda Heine, President of the Republic of Marshall Islands. “Without sustainable ocean ecosystems, our economy, stability and cultural identity will collapse. The only way to continue to benefit from the ocean’s treasures is to protect it. “

The establishment of the marine protection area will probably also be a blessing for scientists who expect to find new types of fish and invertebrates who live in the flawless ecosystem. The researchers also hope that the protection will ultimately contribute to the fact that the coral reefs of the atolls will become more resistant in the face of threats such as climate change and illness.

“If you have these completely intact reefs – even if the water gets so warm that some pale happens and part of the reef dies – it will really be back very quickly,” Jenkinson told Radio New Zealand. “(Coral reefs) have adapted and developed to jump back, but only if they work completely.”