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.
Manta Ray | 📷 Credit: Ocean Image Bank & Emilie Ledwidge
Ghost Sharks and Death Ball Sponges
New Species Unlocked 🔓
Here is a staggering fact: up to 90% of ocean species have never been formally identified by science.
Living creatures are sharing this planet with us right now that science cannot name, track, or protect. They exist. We just haven’t discovered them yet.
The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, launched in 2023, is the world's largest coordinated mission to accelerate ocean species discovery. It’s mission is simple: find life faster than we're losing it.
This year, the Census conducted 13 expeditions and 9 workshops across Australia, Chile, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and India. The result?
1,121 newly documented marine species that didn’t exist a year ago.
A few new names you should know:
The Ghost Shark — found in the Coral Sea Marine Park off Australia, at 800+ meters belongs to one of the oldest vertebrate lineages on Earth, diverging from sharks and rays 400 million years ago.
📸 Credit: The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census/CSIRO
The Death Ball Sponge — found at 3,600+ meters in the South Sandwich Islands, the Death Ball Sponge is covered in microscopic Velcro-like hooks designed to snag small crustaceans drifting past in the current, then slowly envelops and digests them whole. This is what happens when an organism spends millions of years in a pitch-black trench with almost nothing to eat — it stops filtering and starts hunting.
📸 Credit: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute.
Some of the 1,121 species named weren't all collected this year. They were sitting in museum collections and laboratory freezers for decades, waiting for a specialist with the time and funding to formally describe them.
The Ocean Census is helping clear that backlog while running 13 new expeditions around the world.
Year one built the foundation. Year two scaled the effort. Year three documented 1,121 species, with an estimated 90% of the ocean still left to explore.
Read the full story here →
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Source: Ocean Census
The Business of Climate Adaptation
The World’s Coastlines Are Entering A New Economic Era
As climate change accelerates, coastal economies are entering a new era of resilience planning and reinvention. In the process, an entirely new economic sector is beginning to emerge.
Around the world, governments are investing billions into seawalls, flood barriers, underground drainage systems, and climate-resilient infrastructure as rising seas and extreme weather events become harder to ignore. But beyond the urgency, a quieter shift is taking place: climate adaptation is becoming one of the next major growth markets of the global economy.
Recent Bloomberg reporting highlighted the scale of that transition already underway.
> Japan — the government built the world’s largest underground flood diversion system outside Tokyo, designed to reroute stormwater and reduce flood damage across the region.
> Indonesia — in Indonesia, Jakarta’s worsening flooding crisis has pushed leaders toward an estimated $80 billion seawall project — while also accelerating plans for a brand-new capital city, Nusantara.
These projects are no longer isolated climate responses. They are early signals of a rapidly expanding global adaptation economy.
Image courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Why This Matters
For decades, the blue economy was largely defined by shipping, offshore energy, ports, fisheries, and maritime trade.
Now, a new category is emerging: climate resilience infrastructure.
Governments, insurers, infrastructure funds, startups, and private investors are increasingly focused on how coastal economies can adapt and continue thriving in a changing climate.
That shift is driving demand for:
Coastal engineering
Flood mitigation systems
Water infrastructure
Marine monitoring and climate analytics
Nature-based restoration
Resilient urban design
What’s notable is that climate adaptation is no longer being treated solely as an environmental issue. Increasingly, it is being viewed as a long-term investment and innovation opportunity.
The Bigger Picture
Climate adaptation is often framed as a response to crisis. But it is also becoming a story about innovation, redesign, and resilience.
Around the world, cities are beginning to rethink how they build, protect, and coexist with the ocean. In the process, entirely new industries and opportunities are taking shape.
Read the full story here →
VISUAL
Photo of the Week
📷 credit: The Ocean Image Bank & Toby Matthews
Spotted Eagle Ray • Mākua Beach, Hawaii
Fun Fact 🤓
Look closely and you’ll never see the same spotted eagle ray twice. Each one is marked with a unique constellation of white spots, written across its wings like a fingerprint.
Caught the ocean at her best?
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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
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