Join expedition leader Paul Rose and members of the Pristine Seas Team, live from the Expedition Vessel Argo. Malpelo is a UNESCO world heritage site located approximately 500 km from the Pacific coast of Colombia, and includes the island of Malpelo (350 hectares) and the marine ecosystems that surround it (27,000 km2). This Marine Protected Area of the Eastern Tropical Pacific is totally closed to fishing, providing critical habitats for internationally threatened species with extinction, as well as being an important source of food, causing large concentrations of marine biodiversity. It is a refuge for sharks, reef fish and pelagic fish. Large aggregations of hammerhead, silky, whale and tunid sharks have been reported. Another biodiversity includes 17 species of marine mammals, seven marine reptiles, 394 species of fish and 340 species of molluscs. National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala launched the Pristine Seas project in 2008 to explore and help save the last wild places in the ocean. These unique ecosystems are a window into the past, revealing what the ocean looked like before overfishing and pollution took their toll. It is essential that we let the world know that these places exist, that they are threatened, and that help is needed to protect them. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/pristine-seas/

April 26, 2018

1:30 pm to 2:15 pm EST