43 new Important Marine Mammal Areas approved in the NW Atlantic and Wider Caribbean
13 February 2025 – 43 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) have been approved and placed on the map in the North West Atlantic Ocean and Wider Caribbean. The new IMMAs highlight habitats for threatened marine life: blue whales, North Atlantic right whales and Rice’s whales, sperm whales, as well as manatees in the south […]
46 New Candidate IMMAs named for the North West Atlantic and the Wider Caribbean
Mapping the home waters of manatees, polar bears and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and Rice’s whales New Candidate Important Marine Mammal Areas (cIMMAs) were announced in May 2024 with names like True’s Beaked Whale Aggregation Area, Terminos Lagoon and St. Vincent-Bequia Channel “Rat Porpoise” Alley. In all, following an intensive week at […]
33 New IMMAs Announced – SW Atlantic
15 Sept. 2023. New Important Marine Mammal Areas—33 IMMAs in total—have been identified and are now on the map of the South West Atlantic Ocean from the Guianas, north of the Brazilian Amazon, to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. This is the final result from a year-long process, including an intensive week-long scientific […]
36 New IMMAs Announced for the South East Tropical and Temperate Pacific Ocean
Important Marine Mammals Areas (IMMAs) are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. Such areas include, for instance, reproductive, feeding and migratory areas, diversity hotspots as well as habitats that are critical for the survival of endangered marine mammal species. Most […]
New Paper Published on The Important Marine Mammal Area Network
The Important Marine Mammal Areas Secretariat and the IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force (MMPATF) are pleased to announce the publication of the following comprehensive paper on the development of Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA) in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Tetley MJ, Braulik GT, Lanfredi C, Minton G, Panigada S, […]
New Caspian Sea IMMAs awarded to endangered Caspian seals
Caspian seals (Pusa caspica) live only in the Caspian Sea — located in western Asia, the largest landlocked waterbody in the world. They have been on the IUCN endangered list since 2008, having declined by more than 70% in the 20th Century, primarily because they have been hunted for their fur and blubber. On the […]
