Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area

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Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area (HS/QCS MPA) covers about 2,410 square kilometres off the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in February 2017 to protect four glass sponge reefs, which are the largest of their kind and were the first living examples found. Glass sponge reefs were once thought extinct after the Jurassic period, until their discovery in 1987 showed they still exist here. The reefs form in areas where special geological conditions allow hexactinellid sponges, or glass sponges, to build reefs. In 2018, the MPA was added to UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage List. The area is managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to help conserve biodiversity, important habitat, and the overall health of the marine ecosystem.