A new application for iPhones will deliver maps, graphics and updates on the ongoing bid to secure protected status for the Sargasso Sea.The app has been launched by the Sargasso Sea Alliance.That partnership is a Bermuda-based scientific initiative to conserve the Sargasso marine region, which covers a vast swathe of the Western Atlantic.The study area mapped in the iPhone app also shows the “gyre” of currents around the Sargasso’s outer rim.Bermuda lies along the sea’s western edge.The app was said to be the first of its kind created for a proposed high seas protected marine area. It can be downloaded for free at: http://itunes.com/apps/conservingthesargassosea.Nine reasons for protecting the Sargasso are shared by the app.These include the sea’s maritime heritage, ecological value, and biological and global importance.The case for protecting the Sargasso Sea also lists its oceanographic characteristics, its influence on the world’s oceans, and its value for scientific research and monitoring — plus its economic importance and status as a threatened area.Useful website: www.sargassoalliance.org.