![]() ![]() In early March, negotiators representing nearly 200 nations came to a historic agreement aimed at protecting the ocean’s creatures and ecosystems. ![]() They face tremendous challenges that no nation can address alone: Climate change is causing marine heat waves and acidification, while overfishing and pollution are crippling ecosystems, even as pressure grows from companies and nations eager to drill and mine the ocean depths. These sprawling waters, though, are a mostly lawless zone, beyond the reaches of any national authority and governable only by international consensus and treaties. Combined with how little we know about what climate change is doing out there, such questions make the area an international research and conservation priority. Among the region’s many mysteries are how Pacific salmon, one of the West’s most beloved and economically important fish, spend the majority of their lives - and why many populations are plummeting. The high seas - the ocean waters that begin 230 miles offshore - cover 43% of the planet’s surface and are home to as many as 10 million species, yet remain one of the least understood places on Earth.
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