The research ship MV Anuanua Moana is pictured at a port in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, during an expedition to far-flung South Pacific waters in June 2025, spearheading efforts to dredge the tropical waters for industrial deep-sea mining. William WEST

A multinational treaty to protect vast expanses of the world's oceans is finally set to become law in January 2026, with environmentalists hailing its enactment Friday as crucial to safeguarding the marine ecosystems.

The move by Morocco and Sierra Leone to join the UN treaty on the high seas

The law aims to protect biodiverse areas in waters worldwide that lie in waters beyond countries' ex

Teeming with plant and animal life, the oceans are responsible for creating half of the globe's oxygen supply and are vital to combatting

But thos

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