By Nicola Hartmann, U Jin Jo, Filip Kierzenka, Ivy Li, and Lucy Martinson, IV Form & Sean Farrell, Paula Hornbostel, Helen Huang, Paige LaMalva, Aidana Maitekova,  Isabelle O’Toole, Illia Rebechar, and Sophie Student, III Form

Painting the Underwater Protected “Ocean Park”

Map of National Monument. 150 miles SouthEast of Cape Cod:      4, 913 square miles.

On September 15, 2016, President Obama designated the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (map right) to be the Atlantic Ocean’s first underwater protected area. Open to recreational fishing and phasing out commercial fishing will make this area, the size of Connecticut, a valuable research area and refuge for marine life. Dr. Scott Krauss, senior advisor and scientist at the New England Aquarium, was instrumental in securing this area of crucial habitats with 1,000-year-old deep sea corals, unique characteristics of three canyons — deeper than the Grand Canyon — and four deepwater seamounts — 13,000 feet from the ocean floor. Protected from oil, gas exploration, and overfishing, scientists will be able to observe and understand changes. The marked area will help preserve rare and endangered corals, fish, invertebrates, turtles, and three species of whale.

Students in Studio I made this new protected space their area of investigation. (more…)