Fact Sheet

The Blake Plateau: A Southern Treasure

A turtle swims underwater in between branches of golden coral
Credit:

Mark Conlin/VWPics/Alamy

A headshot of Lisa Suatoni
Dr. Lisa Suatoni
Director, Fisheries & Deputy Director, Oceans, Nature

Coauthored with Creation Justice Ministries, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, Queen Quet, and Oceans Connect 

The Blake Plateau is an extraordinary undersea plateau that lies roughly 80 to 200 miles off the coasts of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It supports the largest deep-sea coral habitat on earth and is home to an incredible array of ocean life, including whales, elusive seabirds, sea turtles, and swordfish. The deeper areas of the plateau will provide crucial refuge for deep-sea, reef-building corals as ocean temperatures rise. Relatively undisturbed for millennia, the Blake Plateau faces a range of potential industrial threats—from oil development and deep-sea mining to expanding commercial fisheries—that have harmed other oceanic regions. It needs long-lasting safeguards to secure its treasures for current and future generations. Taking steps now to safeguard special areas of the plateau from harmful extractive activities will help to secure the bounty of the Blake Plateau so that its important ecosystems can persist, long into the future.

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