Blancpain's passion for the underwater world dates back to 1953, when the Fifty Fathoms made its debut as a modern diver's watch.
Ever since, the Swiss watchmaker has cultivated close relationships with marine explorers, photographers, scientists and environmentalists, while supporting important initiatives and activities, including the United Nations' World Oceans Day, which falls on June 8 each year.
On Monday, the 2020 UN World Oceans Day was marked by an all-day virtual streamed event, themed "Innovations For A Sustainable Ocean".
The agenda included a webinar, as a digital version of the World Ocean Summit, co-founded by The Economist and Blancpain in 2012, as well as a release of their new film under The Protectors series.
This episode asks five leaders in ocean conservation -- including Sir David Attenborough -- the question: "If you could invest US$1 billion in one ocean solution, what would it be and why?"
Since 2018, The Protectors programme has supported projects that contribute in an innovative and significant manner to the objective of having 30% of the planet's oceans classified into marine protected areas by 2030.
The first film raises awareness of how mangroves can help tackle climate change, while the second episode depicts how noise pollution threatens ocean life and scientists' efforts to dial down the volume.
The Protectors Season 3 explores the deepest part of the ocean in an attempt to understand the potential effect of deep-sea mining, reveal the potentially devastating effect of noise pollution on thousands of marine species, and update on efforts to learn how oceanic ecosystems can help combat the impacts of climate change.
The UN World Oceans Day virtual event also announced the result of the 2020 edition of an online photo competition. Since 2014, the annual competition is inspired by the success of Blancpain's photographic exhibition, held at the UN headquarters in New York, during the celebration of the 2013 World Oceans Day.
The exhibition featured photographs by contributors to the annual publication Edition Fifty Fathoms, as well as pictures and videos from many expeditions supported by the brand. It highlighted the ecological and economic importance of healthy oceans and the need to preserve their fragile biodiversity.
In the same year, the Blancpain Ocean Commitment programme was launched, to support various expeditions, such as Gombessa and National Geographic's Pristine Seas that were led respectively by Laurent Ballesta and Enric Sala.
The explorations have led to Blancpain's support of various conservation projects such as those in Palawan Island in the Philippines, and Fregate Island in the Seychelles.
For more information, visit blancpain-ocean-commitment.com.
