In 2017, Lewis Pugh swam 1 km at South Georgia to campaign for protection. 7 years later, protected waters had grown from 2% to 36%, adding 166,000 km² of ocean in total

In November 2017, endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh completed a 1-kilometer swim in the waters off South Georgia. The swim was part of his campaign to push for greater protection of the waters around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.

At the time, only 2% of the waters around the islands were fully protected, according to the Lewis Pugh Foundation. Seven years later, protection had reached 36%. In February 2024, the government increased the protected area by a further 166,000 square kilometers.