3 April 2020 — Sponges that look like people 😂😂😂

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Ocean update
According to a new paper, published in Nature this week, "substantial recovery of the abundance, structure and function of marine life could be achieved by 2050, if major pressures—including climate change—are mitigated. Rebuilding marine life represents a doable Grand Challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future." (not open access :( email me for pdf)
The huge expanse of the high seas (waters that are beyond the jurisdiction of any State) remains unprotected. A new report by Pew Charitable Trusts sets out a path to creating the first generation of high seas protected areas, using a science-based method to highlight 10 sites that would help safeguard biodiversity.
Yet there is currently no legal framework to designate protected areas for international waters. The fourth and (supposedly, but probably not) final session of the high seas treaty negotiations would have been wrapping up right now, so here's a few interesting reads:

• High Hopes for the High Seas: towards an ambitious treaty (IDDRI)
• Seize the moment: towards fairer capacity building and marine technology transfer (IIED)
• Two of the largest protected areas on earth have had "little, if any, negative impacts on the fishing industry" (Nature, open access)
• Balancing conservation and security in the high seas treaty (CSIS)

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Sponges that look like people 
😂😂😂Thanks, twitter

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On the box
Euronews is running a series on the ocean, with episodes so far on everything from protecting life in the Arctic seas to the invisible women of Europe's fishing industry.