Biodiversity: On Bikar and Bokak, the world is still in order
Using cameras, dives, and a submarine, researchers investigated the remote Pacific atolls of Bikar and Bokak. Their discoveries show the diversity that has long been displaced by humans elsewhere.
The Marshall Islands have declared a 48,000 square kilometer area around the coral atolls of Bikar and Bokak as the country's first marine protected area. Researchers led by marine ecologist Alan Friedlander of the University of Hawaii found that the atolls, located in the Pacific, are two of the most intact and least human-impacted ecosystems in the region, possibly even the world.
The team documented 15 seabird colonies, 266 reef fish groups, over 200 deep-sea fish groups, and 15 predator groups, including sharks and mackerels, as well as green sea turtles and potentially two previously unknown species. Friedlander described Bikar and Bokak as "treasures not just for the Marshall Islands, but for the entire planet".
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
