Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island in the world, is over 2,700 kilometers from South Africa and 3,700 kilometers from the nearest shores of South America. Sitting between the South Atlantic Current to the north and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the south, the volcanic island and its archipelago are a hotspot of endemic biodiversity both on land and at sea.
The vast majority of the marine protected area (91%) is a Marine Protection Zone that prohibits all extractive activity. Due to the islands’ isolation, the waters surrounding Tristan da Cunha experience low levels of human disturbance, allowing marine life to thrive and develop a high level of endemism. (All photos by Marine Conservation Institute)
"Tristan de Cunha really is one of the key global hotspots of life— there is a most wonderful sense of the power of nature in this perfectly balanced ecosystem,"