Blue corridors are the ocean pathways used by migratory marine species as they travel between feeding, breeding and resting grounds. These routes can span thousands of kilometres across national waters and the high seas.
Whales, sea turtles and oceanic manta rays rely on these connected marine highways to survive. In the Pacific, blue corridors link Antarctica, Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific Island nations and international waters into one interconnected living system.
Migratory species are facing increasing pressures throughout their journeys, including entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, underwater noise, pollution, climate change, and expanding industrial activity across their migration routes. As a result, many species remain endangered or vulnerable, with around one-third of the world's cetaceans considered at risk of extinction.
Despite these challenges, there is a critical window of opportunity for conservation. Global initiatives such as the 30x30 target and the new High Seas Treaty provide an unprecedented framework for coordinated action, creating the potential to strengthen protection for migratory species across the Pacific and beyond.
Aotearoa New Zealand sits at the heart of several important Pacific migration routes. The Rangitāhua / Kermadec region is a critical stopover and connection point for humpback whales and other marine megafauna moving between tropical breeding areas and Antarctic feeding grounds. There is also growing evidence that New Zealand waters may be a southern climate refuge zone for turtles and manta rays.
By strengthening protection of these ocean pathways, New Zealand can play a vital role in safeguarding Pacific biodiversity while contributing to the global goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Our work brings together science, Indigenous knowledge, and regional leadership to identify, map, and protect key migratory pathways across the Western Pacific.
Through research and tracking initiatives, we aim to fill critical knowledge gaps about the movements and habitats of migratory species in New Zealand waters, as well as the wider Western Pacific region.
Collaborating with iwi and Pacific communities, our approach to protecting blue corridors will integrate cultural knowledge, reflecting both ecological and cultural priorities.
By strengthening cooperation across countries and jurisdictions, we will support coordinated action at a regional scale to protect these important migratory pathways.
In a major advance for marine conservation, WWF and a global coalition of leading scientists, civil society, governments, and tech innovators have launched BlueCorridors.org—a dynamic new platform that brings together three decades of whale tracking data with information on overlapping marine threats and conservation solutions.
The platform visualises satellite tracking data from over 50 global research groups, including University of Auckland, and many others.
For the first time, the migratory “blue corridors” used by great whales are now digitally mapped and made publicly accessible to inform science, policy, and ocean protection efforts worldwide.
The Blue Corridors platform not only emphasises the need for collaborative action to achieve the international goals to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, as set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the importance of ratifying the UN High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement), but also provides practical, actionable guidance on how to achieve that.