Into the Blue: December 2023

With 2023 set to be the warmest on record, it’s hard not to experience moments of despair. My colleagues who work in the Dutch Caribbean reported the worst coral bleaching they have ever seen.

And yet so much of Blue Marine’s work this year shows that it is possible to turn things around: From the UK government backing a moratorium on deep sea mining to the government of Jersey proposing to protect 27% of their waters. From a Convex field trip increasing our understanding of how the seabed absorbs carbon to the Blue Marine team at COP28 raising the profile of the ocean as a climate ally alongside world leaders.

From Charles witnessing how life is already springing back on the half of the Dogger Bank which is protected from trawling to Jude and me looking out from the shore of Ascension at one of biggest no-take marine reserves in the world.

These – and many more – signs of hope fill us with impetus to achieve even more in 2024. We hope you find them uplifting to read in this first edition of ‘Into the Blue’.