Mission Blue Hope Spots Website: http://mission-blue.org/hope-spots-new/

The Kermadec Trench Hope Spot is a submarine trench in the floor of the South Pacific Ocean just to the east of the Kemadec Islands and northeast of mainland New Zealand. It is one of the Earth’s deepest oceanic trenches, plunging more than 10 kilometers beneath the ocean’s surface — about five times deeper than the Grand Canyon. The Kermadec Trench has been identified as a globally important marine area for its high level of marine biodiversity, including whales, sharks, turtles, and large pelagic ocean fish. The seafloor features large submarine volcanoes and hydrothermal vents inhabited by specialized species found nowhere else. The New Zealand government created a no-take marine reserve around the Kermadec Islands in 1990, and now WWF is working with the Pew Environment Group to secure additional protection for the trench surrounding the islands.

From Pew Environment Group:

Kermadecs: An Ocean Wilderness

• 431 fish species (32 percent of total fish species found in New Zealand)

• 11 percent of the total number of seabird species in the world are found here

• More than 3 million breeding pairs of seabirds

• Identified as a pristine place by National Geographic and Census of Marine Life in 2010

• Part of the world's longest chain of undersea volcanoes

• Home to crabs and shrimp that live near superheated water at hydrothermal vents