NEWS RELEASE Ocean Networks Canada, a University of Victoria initiative, welcomes today’s announcement of the new marine protected area (MPA) [Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxʷiqak — Tsig̱is](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/mpa-zpm/tht/index-eng.html) (ThT) by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, the Council of the Haida Nation, Pacheedaht First Nation, the Quatsino First Nation, and the Government of Canada. The new [expanded MPA](https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2024/2024-06-19/html/sor-dors122-eng.html) comprises 133,017 km² off British Columbia’s west coast and incorporates the (now former) Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents MPA, where ONC has been providing ocean monitoring through its deep-sea cabled observatory NEPTUNE (North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments) since 2009. Two other monitoring sites part of NEPTUNE— Cascadia Basin and Middle Valley—are now also within the ThT MPA boundaries. Real-time data from NEPTUNE’s sensors, including water quality and biological monitoring, seismometers and hydrophones, are contributing to the conservation, protection and enhancement of this biodiverse-rich ocean ecosystem. This includes all known hydrothermal vents in Canadian waters and 70 per cent of large submarine mountains, also known as seamounts. ONC President and CEO Kate Moran congratulates the partners for their commitment to create and collaboratively co-manage Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxwiqak — Tsig̱is, the country’s second-largest MPA. "Ocean Networks Canada has been delighted to work together with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, British Columbia coastal First Nations and other partners to explore and uncover the rich and biodiverse ocean offshore our west coast. This work helped set the stage for delineating Canada’s newest protected area — Tang.ɢwan — ḥačxʷiqak — Tsig̱is — which is a key part of ensuring that future generations will inherit a healthy ocean and thriving coastal communities." “With over 80 per cent of the ThT MPA not fully explored, the expansion from the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge to this large-scale area of protection will advance knowledge of our blue planet,” adds Moran.