Story | 07 Jun, 2018

IUCN marks World Oceans Day with a Google Voyager story on humpback whales and Large Marine Ecosystems

To mark World Oceans Day, IUCN has collaborated with Google Earth to produce a Voyager story  - a multimedia presentation embedded in Google Earth - that traces the life and habits of humpback whales as they migrate the world’s oceans and as they feed and breed in “Large Marine Ecosystems” (LMEs), regional areas of ocean adjacent to continents where productivity is generally higher than in the open ocean. Incorporating stunning images, film and the sound of humpbacks, the presentation presents amazing facts about these graceful creatures but also highlights the threats they face.  Finally, it explains how work is under way in LMEs to better manage and preserve coastal and marine resources so that humpbacks and other living resources have a brighter, more sustainable future.

content hero image

Bubble net lunge feeding by humpback whales, Alaska

Photo: J.Hyde Wild Things Photography

The Google Voyager story is part of an outreach effort under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) LME-Learn project being implemented by the UNDP, executed by IOC of UNESCO and involving multiple institutional partners, including IUCN.