A New Marine Protected Area in the Marshall Islands Is Brimming With Life, Like a ‘Time Machine’ to Oceans Long Ago

A region of the Pacific Ocean that’s larger than Switzerland is now fully protected from fishing, thanks to the creation of a massive new marine sanctuary in the Marshall Islands.

The Marshall Islands are located in the west-central Pacific Ocean, between the Philippines, Hawaii and French Polynesia. The new marine protected area spans 18,500 square miles of water surrounding two remote, northern atolls, called Bikar and Bokak.

“Bikar and Bokak’s coral reefs are a time machine, like diving in the ocean of 1,000 years ago,” says Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas, in a statement. “They are our best baselines for what the ocean could look like if we truly let it be.”

The atolls, which are uninhabited, are “flourishing with life,” says Whitney Goodell, a marine ecologist at National Geographic Pristine Seas, to BBC Wildlife magazine’s Melissa Hobson.

They’re brimming with seabirds, deep-sea sharks, giant clams, fish and coral—including endangered bristle-thighed curlew birds and vulnerable Napoleon wrasse fish. They also host a large green sea turtle nesting colony and a group of bumphead parrotfish, a type of fish that’s important for coral reef health.

National Geographic Pristine Seas is an initiative that promotes the creation of new marine protected areas in collaboration with Indigenous and local communities. Since launching in 2008, the project has helped establish 29 marine sanctuary areas spanning more than two million square miles.

In 2023, researchers with National Geographic Pristine Seas and the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority completed an exploratory expedition to the atolls to learn more about the creatures living up to 7,677 feet beneath the ocean’s surface.

They made 452 dives near Bikar, Bokak, Bikini and Rongerik atolls, spending roughly 643 hours under the water. They also explored the area using a submersible and cameras, and they collected water samples for genetic testing.

“Bikar and Bokak were, if not the most pristine, some of the most pristine waters and coral reefs and coral atolls we have ever viewed anywhere on Earth,” says Ryan Jenkinson, director of expeditions for National Geographic Pristine Seas, to Radio New Zealand’s Caleb Fotheringham.

Scientists shared their findings from that expedition with local decisionmakers to inform a process called “reimaanlok,” a traditional Marshall Islands conservation philosophy that translates to “look toward the future.” The reimaanlok is rooted in the idea that coastal communities know best how to sustainably and equitably manage their local resources.

By protecting the waters surrounding the atolls, Marshall Islands leaders hope to see a boost in fish populations, which will in turn provide food and jobs for coastal communities.

“The ocean as our ancestors knew it is vanishing,” says Hilda Heine, president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the statement. “Without sustainable ocean ecosystems, our economy, stability and cultural identity will collapse. The only way to continue benefiting from the ocean’s treasures is to protect it.”

The establishment of the marine protected area will likely be a boon to scientists, too, who expect to find new species of fish and invertebrates living in the pristine ecosystem. Researchers also hope the protection will ultimately help make the atolls’ coral reefs more resilient in the face of threats like climate change and disease.

“When you have these fully intact reefs—even if the water gets so warm that some bleaching happens and some of the reef dies—it will bounce back really, really quickly,” Jenkinson tells Radio New Zealand. “[Coral reefs] have adapted and evolved to bounce back but only if they are totally functioning.”