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A long time ago, the retreat of ice age glaciers cut off one of the world’s largest underwater canyons on the seabed about 100 miles from New York City. Hundreds of species now live there, such as sperm whales, sea turtles and deep-water corals.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced which intends to designate the area as a new national marine sanctuary, which would give it some of the same protections that are granted to national parks.
The Hudson Canyon, which is almost 7 ½ miles wide and more than two miles deep in some places, rivals the Grand Canyon in scale. The push to add it to the National Marine Sanctuary System reflects the Biden administration’s broader effort to safeguard critical habitat threatened by development and global warming by conserving 30 percent of the country’s land and water. for 2030.
“A sanctuary near one of the most densely populated areas in the northeastern U.S. would connect several communities in the region with the ocean and the canyon in new and different ways,” said Rick Spinrad, who runs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). he said in a statement. “As someone who grew up in New York City and pursued a career in ocean science, I’m excited about how this amazing underwater environment can inspire a shared interest in conserving our ocean.”
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World Oceans Day is celebrated on Wednesday, when world leaders often pledge to protect areas off their country’s coasts. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also plans to sign an order to phase out the sale of disposable plastic products to national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands in 2032. The measure is aimed at The department to find compostable or biodegradable alternatives, an effort to reduce the federal government’s contribution to the 14 million tons of plastic that end up in the ocean each year.
Some national parks banned the sale of plastic water bottles in 2011 to reduce pollution. Despite evidence that the ban worked, the Trump administration ended it six years later.
Environmentalists applauded the Biden administration’s decision.
“The Department of the Interior’s ban on disposable plastic will curb millions of pounds of unnecessary disposable plastic,” said Christy Leavitt, plastics campaign director for Oceana Ocean Conservation Group.
The administration will also announce plans on Wednesday to draw up an ocean climate action plan focusing on the development of renewable energy, zero-emission transportation and other ocean-related efforts to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
Biden officials have not determined the size of the proposed marine sanctuary, which was proposed for protection by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium in 2016. The outline of the sanctuary, including what it will be called and the types of activities allowed there will be subject to a period of public comment, during which NOAA will seek input from conservationists, the fishing industry, and offshore energy developers, among others.
Before the plan comes to fruition Finally, the agency must conduct an environmental impact assessment and draft a management plan, which could take a year or more to complete.
Naturalist William Beebe was the first to explore the Hudson Canyon during his 1925 voyage to the depths of the sea at the Batisfera, the first manned submarine. Since 2000, scientists have been working to map the seabed of the canyon, document the species that live on its steep slopes, and investigate leaks that release methane gas from the seabed.
Their explorations have revealed an ecosystem full of wildlife.
Researchers have found at least 200 species of fish, including Atlantic bluefin tuna and dark sharks, inside the canyon. During the summer months, endangered sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins and endangered loggerhead turtles have been seen in the canyon. Along its steep walls, rocky outcrops and rocks are home to slow-growing anemones, sponges, and coral colonies, some of which are believed to be over 1,000 years old.
Humans have also left their mark.
The canyon contains shipwrecks and deep-water communications cables that connect the east coast with the rest of the world. Large container vessels traveling to the ports of New York and New Jersey, as well as whale watching vessels and commercial fishing vessels, pass through its waters. Until the 1990s, when the region changed its dumping practices, the canyon was exposed to wastewater and toxin flows from New York City and northern New Jersey. Cannon scouts have documented corals covered in plastic and other debris.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
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In its NOAA nomination, the Wildlife Conservation Society said the canyon “remains a mysterious deep oceanic desert.”
“The distance from the ground and the depth of the canyon have led to a limited human presence, thus largely protecting its ecological integrity,” he wrote.
The group has called for the canyon to be permanently protected from the exploitation of oil, gas and minerals, but has not called for restrictions on fishing. And while developers plan to build commercial wind farms on the Atlantic coast, the distance from the canyon to the coast and the extreme depths make it an undesirable place for industrial wind projects.
John Calvelli, the company’s executive vice president of public affairs, said in an interview that the canyon has the potential to become a haven for ocean creatures threatened by climate change.
“The thought is that this area could really become a haven for species that need colder water,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re protecting it for the future.”
A Alaska Native tribe on a remote island north of the Aleutians also celebrated Wednesday that its coastal waters east of the Bering Sea have been proposed as a future marine sanctuary.
The Aleutian Community of the Island of St. Paul, a federally recognized tribe, named Alagum Kanuux (Heart of the Ocean), an area of the Pribilof Islands that is home to more than half of the world’s population of fur seals, as well as Steller’s sea lions. and numerous birds.
The shores of the Pribilof Islands have been hit by ocean plastics and conservation groups are involved in regular clean-ups that produce tens of thousands of pounds of discarded fishing gear and other debris.
Josh Partlow contributed to this report.
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