in italian, nel blu means “into the blue”
nel blu™ is a media brand dedicated to celebrating victories for our ocean.
From conservation breakthroughs to marine science discoveries,
we curate the weekly stories that
inspire action and deepen our connection to the sea.
📷 credit: Aaron Burden & Unsplash
THIS WEEK
Wins of the Week
1. 10% of the Ocean is Now Officially Protected.
For the first time in history, more than 10% of the global ocean is now officially designated within protected and conserved areas. A milestone the world originally set for 2020 and finally crossed this April.
Over the past two years alone, the world has protected about 5 million square kilometres of ocean, an area bigger than the European Union.
Is it enough? Not yet. The goal is 30% by 2030. BUT 10% is a foundation worth celebrating — and proof that international cooperation moves mountains. Or in this case, oceans. 🌊
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Source: IUCN
2. Argentina’s Deep Sea Is Teeming With Life Nobody Expected.
Scientists just opened a window into the Argentine deep sea, and what they found surprised everyone, including them.
On an expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), an Argentinian-led science team traveled the entire length of Argentina's coastline, from Buenos Aires all the way south to Tierra del Fuego, mapping ecosystems no human had properly documented before.
The findings were extraordinary. The team discovered the largest known Bathelia candida cold-water coral reef on the planet, nearly the size of Vatican City.
They documented 28 suspected new species, including worms, corals, sea urchins, and sea anemones. Nearly 4,000 meters below the surface, they encountered a whale fall, a rare deep-sea phenomenon where the body of a dead whale sustains an entire community of life for years.
🚨 Don’t Miss This!
→ Schmidt Ocean also spotted a rare giant phantom jellyfish, which can grow as long as a school bus!
→ View more photos from their expedition.
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Source: Schmidt Ocean Institute
BUSINESS
Blue Economy Watch
One business signal worth knowing about this week
Wall Street Just Put a $1 Billion Price Tag on the Ocean Floor
Let's talk about something that happened last month that most people completely missed.
Two deep-sea mining companies, American Ocean Minerals Corporation and Odyssey Marine Exploration, merged to create a $1 billion business. Their plan? Collect potato-sized rocks from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Sounds strange, right? Here's why it matters.
Those rocks — called polymetallic nodules — are loaded with cobalt, nickel, and manganese. These are the same materials used in electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy systems, and many of the devices we use every day. They have also become increasingly important to national security and global supply chains.
When investors begin placing billion-dollar bets on the ocean floor, priorities start to shift. Governments want to map it. Scientists receive funding to study it. Regulators begin building frameworks to govern it.
For decades, conservation groups have worked to bring attention to the deep sea. A billion-dollar industry now has its sights set on the same place.
This is one to keep on your radar. As with all shifts in the maritime landscape, the full picture is still emerging — we'll be watching how science, policy, and industry navigate this one together.
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Source: Business Wire | April 8, 2026
VISUAL
Photo of the Week
📷 credit: Vincent Kneefel & The Ocean Image Bank
Fun Facts 🤓
→ Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family!
→ In most orca pods, grandma's in charge. Families form tight matrilineal circles around the eldest female — and stay that way for generations.
Caught the ocean at her best?
Send us your shot. We feature one reader photo every issue — full credit, tag included.
PEOPLE
The Wave Makers
Amplifying the people changing the ocean, one coastline at a time.
Each year, humpback whales return to the warm, shallow channel between Mo'orea and Tahiti to give birth and nurse their young. By instinct, it is a place of refuge.
It is also one of French Polynesia’s busiest marine corridors, crossed daily by ferries and fast-moving vessels. Around the world, an estimated 20,000 whales are killed each year by ship strikes. (IMMP)
Among those returning to these waters was a juvenile humpback known locally as Sweet Girl. Ocean photographer Rachel Moore had documented her and described her as unusually curious, calm around humans, seemingly drawn toward connection in a way that felt almost reciprocal.
Not long after one of those encounters, Sweet Girl was struck and killed, likely by a fast-moving vessel in the channel.
Then a photograph began to circulate.
Moore’s image, an intimate portrait of Sweet Girl’s eye, transformed the loss from an abstract statistic into something immediate and impossible to ignore. People saw not just a whale, but an individual life interrupted.
The response was swift. A petition gathered more than 50,000 signatures. Residents wrote to local officials. Conservation groups renewed calls for stronger protections in the migration corridor.
Months later, the government of French Polynesia introduced seasonal speed restrictions in surrounding waters during migration season, an effort to reduce the likelihood and severity of vessel strikes. The whales returning now move through waters that are safer than before.
Before the policy change, before the petitions, there was a single frame.
Sweet Girl suspended beneath the surface, her eye fixed on the camera, looking back at the world above the water and at the people who would eventually decide her story mattered.
Read the full article here.
Know someone making waves? We want to meet them.
A local effort. A quiet victory. A fight still unfolding.
Tell us the story
EVENTS
Save the Date
Ocean events on our radar
🌊 World Ocean Day | June 8, 2026
The most important day on the ocean calendar! Celebrated globally with beach cleanups, events, and advocacy campaigns across every coastline. We'll be publishing a special edition issue. Mark it now. worldoceanday.org
🌍 Our Ocean Conference 11 | June 16–18, 2026
The world's premier ocean leadership summit heads to Mombasa, Kenya. Governments, NGOs, and businesses will announce ocean commitments worth billions. We'll be covering every win. ouroceankenya.com
If someone in your life needs more ocean optimism — pass this newsletter along.