The ocean supplies more than half the oxygen we breathe, and provides food and livelihoods for billions of people worldwide. It is also home to a wondrous array of species, from tiny plankton to blue whales.
But the ocean is in trouble.
Centuries of overuse and neglect have damaged the ocean. It’s time to change the way we see it, from a place where we take what we want and dump what we don’t, to a shared resource.
We recently celebrated the agreement of a High Seas Treaty, creating a framework to conserve marine life and restrain harmful activities in two-thirds of the ocean. But what exactly are the high seas?
Let's take a look some of the terms used to describe different areas of the ocean and the particular threats they face.