President Obama visited Midway Atoll in September to see the expanded Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a World Heritage Site. Obama’s expansion of the monument includes 583,000 square miles of ocean water, 10 islands and atolls located in the northwesten Hawaiian island chain. His gift to the world is now the 2nd largest protected marine area on the planet.
Before scrolling down to watch the National Geographic video at the bottom of this story, here are some snippets on a story that The Atlantic has about the legacy of the “Ocean President”.
In August 1961, Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, thousands of miles from the American mainland. He spent 14 of his first 18 years on those islands, bodysurfing off Sandy Beach Park, surrounded by the expansive blue of the Pacific. He later moved inland, to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and eventually the White House. But he never lost his childhood connection to the sea.
Whenhe leaves the Oval Office this month, he will have safeguarded more of the ocean than any other president, and increased the amount of protected waters around the U.S. by four times.* His administration has also worked to improve American fisheries, clamp down on illegal fishing, and create national policies for protecting the oceans.
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“This administration has made the ocean a centerpiece for international diplomacy,” says Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist and former administrator of NOAA. “They used to be out of sight, out of mind. The only people who would talk about ocean issues were science ministers or fishery ministers. Now, when the President talks to other heads of state, oceans are often on the agenda.”
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In September 2014, Obama took the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, which George W. Bush had created five years earlier, and expanded it six-fold. The monument comprises seven disparate U.S.-controlled islands and atolls. It’s a bustling haven for sharks, groupers, whales, dolphins, turtles, and seabirds, and is now completely closed off to drilling, mining, and commercial (but not recreational) fishing. Covering 490,000 square miles, it’s three times the size of California, and bigger than all the land-based national parks combined. For two years, it was the world’s largest marine reserve, until Obama smashed his own record in August 2016.
National Geographic highlights the photographer and explorer Brian Skerry who was one of 6 people to accompany the President to a snorkel site. You can read the interview of one of the best ocean photographers in his field, who had the amazing opportunity to swim with the President in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
I am crossing my fingers that Obama will protect most if not all of the Arctic Ocean. Meanwhile, enjoy the video.
x YouTube Video