Acting to preserve and protect delicate marine life, President Obama vowed to expand a national monument thousands of miles from the U.S. Mainland in the south Pacific, thus creating the world's largest protected ocean reserve on Wednesday.

The preserve, located between the islands of Hawaii and American Samoa, was originally established by George W. Bush a few years ago. However, Obama's expansion enlarges the are of protected ocean by about 10 times. 

This is a huge victory for marine rights activists, who have been pressuring Obama to expand the amount of protected-ocean.

"Let's make sure that years from now we can look our children in the eye and tell them that, yes, we did our part, we took action, and we led the way toward a safer, more stable world," Obama said in a video message at a State Department oceans conference. 

The preserve, as established by Bush, currently occupies a radius of 50 miles from the shores of many American Islands in the South Pacific. However, maritime law allows the United States jursidiction of waters up to 200 miles from the shores of any island. Obama's action would expand the amount of protected water to about 780,000 square miles, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.