On March 21, the government of Ecuador announced the creation of a marine sanctuary and 21 conservation areas in the Galápagos Islands, fully protecting a vibrant ecosystem that’s home to the highest abundance of sharks on the planet. The new sanctuary will safeguard more than 47,000 square kilometers of ocean—roughly one-third of the waters around the archipelago—against fishing and other extractive industries such as mining and oil drilling.
In December of 2015, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas team of international scientists and filmmakers, in collaboration with Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, surveyed and documented the waters around the islands.
Click here to read more about the new sanctuary: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160321-galapagos-marine-reserve-park-ecuador-conservation/
Click here to learn more about Pristine Seas’ expedition to the Galápagos: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/pristine-seas/galapagos/
Music courtesy of Terrence Mallick and Hanan Townshend