The Blake Plateau hosts a wide variety of ocean life. Located offshore of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, it hosts the world’s largest deep-sea coral reef habitat and is of historical and cultural significance to the Gullah/Geechee people whose enslaved ancestors crossed its waters.

Less than 1 percent of the Southeast’s waters are strongly preserved. We have a great opportunity to put protections in place for a network of key habitats on the Blake Plateau before industrialization of the region takes root.

That’s why we need to make sure Congress understands how critical it is that they support conservation of the Blake Plateau without delay.

Urge Congress to Support Conservation of the Blake Plateau!

Lophelia pertusa stony coral found at the top of the crest of Richardson Ridge on the Blake Plateau off the coast of South Carolina.

Image courtesy of Ivan Hurzeler and DEEP SEARCH 2019 - BOEM, USGS, NOAA, ROV Jason, ©️Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Blake Plateau contains the world’s largest deep-sea coral reef habitat and a wide swath of ocean life. Located offshore of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, it is also a place of cultural and historical significance for the Gullah/Geechee people, as it is the ancestral resting place for many enslaved ancestors who did not survive crossing its waters as part of the Middle Passage.

We need to permanently protect a network of the Blake Plateau's key habitats now, before industries like oil, gas, and minerals mining could destroy these areas with spills or miles-long sediment plumes that smother corals.

That’s why we need to make sure Congress understands how critical it is that they support conservation of the Blake Plateau without delay.

My Congressional representatives need to understand how important it is to their constituents that the Blake Plateau, a largely pristine marine ecosystem, is conserved for us and for generations to come.

Its deep-sea corals, floating Sargassum seaweed meadows, and other habitats feed and shelter a huge diversity of marine life. This Southern treasure needs strong, durable safeguards across a network of the plateau's areas to protect it from industry now – before vulnerable corals are harmed by oil spills or minerals mining that could smother marine life. This area is of cultural significance to the Gullah/Geechee people, as it is the ancestral resting place for enslaved ancestors who did not survive crossing its waters as part of the Middle Passage.

I’m adding my name to the many others who support robust conservation efforts from the federal government to ensure the Blake Plateau’s survival.

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