Stories
When Titans Collide: The Hidden Environmental Cost of Shipping Disasters
Introduction The vast blue highways of our global ocean carry nearly 90% of global trade, with massive vessels traversing international waters day and night. While these maritime thoroughfares are essential …
TOF President’s Statement on Federal Funding Freeze on Foreign Aid
29 January 2025 Thank you to all who have donated to help us through the crisis caused by the abrupt halt in federal funding for our work with small island …
The Ocean Foundation’s Strategic Value to U.S. National Interests
Introduction On January 22, 2025, Secretary of State Rubio issued a press statement on the “priorities and mission of the Second Trump Administration’s Department of State.” In it, he said, …
AI and Improving the Blue Economy
The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth. It regulates the climate, absorbs greenhouse gas emissions, and generates oxygen on which all life depends. The ocean economy has always …
2024 Teach For the Ocean Educators Summit
Teach For The Ocean’s inaugural Educators Summit was held June 4, 2024 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In total, over 80 educators from all backgrounds in Washington, …
Local2030: Community of Practice Gathering 2024
The Local2030 Islands Network convened people from around the world in Hawai’i for the 2024 Community of Practice Gathering. The Ocean Foundation (TOF) is proud to serve as the steward …
Passing the Keys: Ocean Acidification Monitoring in the Pacific Islands
Wrapping up seven years of ocean acidification monitoring and capacity building in the Pacific Islands. A community’s ability to monitor and understand the ocean is directly tied to that community’s …
Earth Is the Blue Planet
Celebrate Earth Day with us by honoring the reason why Earth is called the blue planet — the ocean! Covering 71 percent of our planet, the ocean feeds millions of …
Bridging Past and Present: Underwater Cultural Heritage at the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference
The Ocean Foundation was thrilled to participate in the 2024 United Nations Ocean Decade conference in Barcelona, Spain. The conference brought together scientists, policymakers, youth, Indigenous people, and local communities …
Is it loud enough yet? Protests, Indigenous Voices, and the Business Case for DSM at the March 2024 ISA Meetings
The Ocean Foundation’s Deep Seabed Mining (DSM) team is happy to have participated again in meetings of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica. Negotiations continue, and despite ongoing cooperation, the regulations are still far from being completed, with divergent views on fundamental concepts blocking consensus on key issues.
Community-led Mangrove Restoration in Xcalak, Mexico
Our team recently traveled to Xcalak, Mexico as part of The Ocean Foundation’s Blue Resilience Initiative (BRI). Why? To get our hands and boots dirty – literally – in one …
2023: A First Step in Protecting the Elusive High Seas
This past year focused on protecting the part of the ocean that is outside of the jurisdictional reach of any specific country and is, arguably, so enigmatic that experts in the field are still striving to understand it. When it comes to the high seas, there is a large part (64%) of the ocean that no one truly owns and that no one country can protect on its own. Which begs the question, “how do you protect something that doesn’t belong (only) to you?”
