Dr. Enric Sala developed a passion for the sea while growing up on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Witnessing the damage that pollution, overfishing, climate change, and industrialization cause to marine ecosystems, Sala dedicated his career to finding ways to restore health and productivity to the ocean.

To help save the last pristine places in the ocean, Sala has mounted a series of National Geographic expeditions to some of the most remote, uninhabited, and untouched sites on the planet. Beyond shipping lanes and fisheries and far from human civilization, Sala discovered what a healthy reef looks like: crystal-clear water, abundant, multicolored corals, and an amazing abundance of apex predators like sharks.

Using a combination of science, media, and grassroots partnership with local conservation organizations, Sala has succeeded in inspiring national leaders to protect some of these precious, pristine places. Now, he is racing to help establish a series of marine protected areas around the world to save those places that remain in danger.

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