Post by : Jyoti Gupta

Photo:AP

NICE, France — On Sunday, many research and exploration boats from different countries sailed near the city of Nice, France. They came together to start the third United Nations Ocean Conference and to celebrate World Oceans Day.

The event was called “Ocean Wonders.” The boats sailed across Nice’s Bay of Angels to show the beauty of the ocean and remind world leaders how important the sea is when making decisions for the planet’s future.

Thousands of people — including presidents, scientists, and environmental activists — are meeting in Nice this week. They are talking about the dangers facing the ocean and the need to turn promises into real action.

The United Nations says the ocean is in danger because of:

• Rising ocean temperatures
• Plastic pollution hurts sea animals.
• Too much fishing and use of sea resources

Right now, only 2.7% of the world’s oceans are protected from harmful activities like industrial fishing and deep-sea mining. That’s far below the goal of protecting 30% by 2030.

Some special boats at the event include:

• Energy Observer: A solar-powered catamaran that traveled around the world using only clean energy. It makes hydrogen fuel from seawater.
• Alfred Merlin: A French ship used to explore underwater archaeology.
• OceanXplorer: A high-tech research ship owned by a billionaire.
• Blue Panda: A WWF boat that works to protect seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea.

A big goal of this conference is to support the High Seas Treaty, agreed upon in 2023. This treaty would let countries protect parts of the ocean that are in international waters — areas that belong to no single country and cover two-thirds of the sea.

Rebecca Hubbard, head of the High Seas Alliance, said:

“This treaty is important to protect ocean life. We are facing a crisis with both nature and climate. Saving the ocean is key to fixing this.”

But even in places already marked as protected, there are problems. Many countries, including France, are being blamed for not doing enough. Big fishing and other harmful actions still happen in these areas.

Sílvia Tavares from the Oceano Azul Foundation said:

“We’re not acting fast enough or big enough. Conferences like this are important to change that.”

During this week’s event, some countries will announce new protected ocean areas and new bans on harmful fishing methods like bottom trawling.

The “Ocean Wonders” fleet of ships will stay in Nice and be open to the public until the conference ends on June 13.