In February 2021, Mission Blue – the ocean-conservation foundation led by legendary oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle – declared Jangamo Bay, in Mozambique’s Inhambane Province, a Hope Spot. Love The Oceans, the non-profit founded by Francesca Trotman in 2014, was named its Hope Spot Champion.
The bay is ecologically exceptional. Mozambique’s humpback whale substock numbers nearly 6,000 animals – almost 10% of the world’s population – making this one of the planet’s most significant breeding grounds. Its manta rays, meanwhile, underpin a tourism economy valued at US$10.9 million a year in direct dive revenue alone.
A bottom-up approach
Love The Oceans works through research, education and diving, alongside the Community Elders and local fishing community – who, through the charity’s first Sustainable Fishing Project, agreed to phase out net fishing in the bay. A Hope Spot carries no legal standing of its own, but it is a decisive step toward the charity’s real goal: a nationally recognised Special Reserve, a Mozambican Marine Protected Area protecting endangered manta rays and other species.
I applaud Francesca, the Love The Oceans team and the entire community for doing what they can to push for a marine protected area in the Jangamo Bay.
Dr Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue
