Protecting Special Places in the North Atlantic

Description

This spring, the campaign to permanently protect two areas in the North Atlantic will reach a critical point. Attend this event for a unique opportunity to see spectacular photographs and film footage from two of New England's most important underwater treasures, the Cashes Ledge area and the New England Canyons and Seamounts. Robbie Lamb, a marine ecology PhD candidate and diver with the Witman Lab at Brown University will join Dr. Priscilla Brooks of Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) to discuss these ecological wonders. Cashes Ledge is an underwater mountain range located approximately 80 miles off the coast of Cape Ann. Home to the largest coldwater kelp forest along the Atlantic seaboard, many marine species benefit from the safe haven that Cashes Ledge's rocky crevasses and forest of kelp provide. The recovering Atlantic cod is found here, and an abundance of other fish provide steady feeding sources for whales, sharks, seabirds, and more. The New England Canyons and Seamounts are located approximately 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Five undersea canyons - some deeper than the Grand Canyon - and four underwater mountains, or "seamounts", make up a unique geographical wonder, home to diverse marine wildlife and vivid corals (some of which take centuries to grow). New and rare species are discovered here upon every expedition. CLF is leading a national coalition working together to permanently protect these fascinating, beautiful, and important places, with the goal of convincing the Obama Administration to designate these areas as the first Marine National Monuments in the Atlantic before the end of the president's term. Sponsored by Appledore Marine Engineering, Liberty Lane Catering, and Smuttynose Brewing Company.