Note from the Executive Secretary |
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Dr David Freestone
Executive Secretary
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I am pleased to announce that the Bermuda Cabinet has now made three Commissioner appointments. Commissioner Spalding and de Mora have been re-appointed for new terms, and I am delighted to welcome a new Commissioner, Dr Ana Colaço. She is the third woman Commissioner to be appointed, and her scientific expertise will prove a valuable asset.
September 27th also marks the fifth Anniversary of The Bahamas signing the Hamilton Declaration. The, Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Fred Mitchell became the seventh signatory. Since then, The Bahamas has been a consistently engaged and supportive Signatory government.
The next few months will be busy as we finalize the arrangements for two major grants from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and from the Fonds français pour l'environnement mondial (FFEM).
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The Honourable Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas, signs the Hamilton Declaration in New York in 2016. To his left is the Honourable Cole Simons, the then Minister of Environment of Bermuda. |
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Dr Ana Colaço Appointed Commissioner |
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On September 21, 2021, the Bermuda Cabinet approved the appointment of Mr Mark Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation, Professor Stephen de Mora, former Chief Executive of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (both re-appointed for a third term); and Dr Ana Colaço, a distinguished deep-sea ecologist at the University of Azores.
Dr Ana Colaço is a first-time appointment, and represents the third woman Commissioner for the Sargasso Sea, bringing valuable diversity to the panel. Dr Colaço’s background is a balance between deep-sea scientific work and international cooperation efforts.
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The SARGADOM project (a combination of 'Sargasso Sea' and 'Thermal Dome', the project's two focus sites) kicked-off with a virtual event on August 26th, 2021. It drew 45 participants from a wide range of countries and organisations.
The purpose of the project is to contribute to hybrid governance to protect and manage two remarkable high seas areas. This project is funded by the French Facility for Global Environment, and the event was co-hosted by other project partners - Marviva and UBO.
One of the main deliverables the project is a drivers-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) analysis of each site. This will be used to inform the development of a Strategic Action Programme for the Sargasso Sea site that is hoped to provide insights for the ongoing negotiations of a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) in the UN.
You can learn more about the project, and access the full recording of the kick-off event by clicking the button below.
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2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts |
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In July this year the NOAA Research Vessel Okeanos Explorer conducted a series of ROV deep sea dives in the North Atlantic - many of them in the Sargasso Sea Commission's project area. The purpose of the expedition was to build a better understanding of the diversity and distribution of deepwater habitats in this region, allowing for informed resource management decisions.
At-sea and shore-based science teams worked together to map the seafloor and observe many targeted sites in this region for the first time, diving at depths from 250 to 4,000 meters. The dives were livestreamed, providing incredible windows into the unexplored world of the deep - including deep sea fish, polychaete worms, many coral and sponge species, sea stars, and more - like the dumbo octopus pictured above.
To see a gallery of deep-sea images, and to learn more about the project, please click the button below.
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'The European Eel' a long-form poem
by Steve Ely
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September 14th, 2021 saw the virtual launch event of a new book length poem 'The European Eel', by Steve Ely . This interesting poem explores the life history of this fascinating catadromous fish - which spawns in the Sargasso Sea - as well as the author's personal connection to it.
It is an expressionistic poem which also aims to spark debate about the anthropogenic threats facing the species. The book launch included an introduction and a reading by the author, as well as a panel discussion by scientists working on the European Eel - including long-time supporter of the Commission’s work Dr. Matthew Gollock.
To learn more about the poem and to watch the event recording, please click the button below!
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Creature Feature
Your window into the golden floating rainforest and who's in it!
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New study finds that different sargassum morphotypes support different communities of epifauna |
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Sargassum provides a living matrix for many small animals in the open Sargasso Sea. Ten species are known to be endemic to floating Sargassum, and hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates are associated with the algae. But what difference does the type of Sargassum make to the epifauna it supports?
That's the question that the authors of this new paper, published in Marine Biology, set out to answer. They examined three main types of Sargassum - Sargassum fluitans III, Sargassum natans I, and Sargassum natans VIII, which all differ slightly in their structural complexity - varying in the presence of thorns, density of branching, and blade thickness.
Their research showed that the densest type of Sargassum, S. fluitans III, supported higher densities of individuals and greater number of taxa than the more open and less structurally complex S. natans I, or S. natans VIII - which is the variant found in the great Atlantic Sargassum belt.
Image credit: figure from the article.
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Chapter in 'Sustainability in the Maritime Domain'
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Conservation of anguillid eels
Longtime supporter of the Sargasso Sea Commission Dr Matthew Gollock has recently contributed to a paper reviewing the current state of knowledge on anguillid eels. The Sargasso Sea is essential spawning habitat for two species of anguillid eel, the European (Anguilla anguilla) and American (Anguilla rostrata) species. Read the full paper: 'Important questions to progress science and sustainable management of anguillid eels'
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Article published in 'Frontiers in Marine Science' by David Freestone
This article provides an in-depth review of the work of the Commission. It highlights some important lessons learned about utilising existing legal frameworks for the protection of the high seas - in short: organizations structured like SSC may provide a useful new paradigm for achieving high seas conservation aims - especially if it were to possess a legally-binding mandate.
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Thank you for supporting our mission to protect the Sargasso Sea. We truly appreciate all of the donations and support that we have received over the years -- without which the Sargasso Sea Commission would not exist. |
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