The Government of Bangladesh announced the declaration of the Nijhum Dwip Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the northern Bay of Bengal to safeguard critical spawning grounds for the country’s most valuable fish species and some of the world’s largest populations of endangered dolphins, porpoises, sharks, rays, and marine turtles.

For the past 20 years, members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) have celebrated our planet with annual Party For The Planet^® events. The New York Aquarium will commemorate the annual Party for the Planet® celebration with two events. On June 1^st there will be a volunteer clean-up of Coney Island Creek, bringing attention to this urban waterway that is now the focus of a revitalization effort. On the following Saturday, June 8th, the aquarium will celebrate World Ocean’s Day with a “March for the Ocean”, a parade on the Coney Island Boardwalk to highlight the challenges posed by plastic waste to the waters of New York and celebrate New York’s commitment to healthier, cleaner waters. 

The following statement was released by the Wildlife Conservation Society today in regard to a landmark report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES):

On Earth Day 2019, aquariums across the United States are leading by example in the fight against one of the threats facing ocean and freshwater animals – plastic pollution. The 20 aquariums that make up the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) are committing to three business practices that bring their facilities closer to eliminating all single-use plastic materials.  Collectively more than 600 businesses and 160,000 individuals nationwide joined the aquariums by making business and lifestyle changes that reduce consumption of single-use plastic.