The ocean provides human societies with a wealth of valuable goods and services of significant economic, social and cultural importance. Threats from human activities and effects of climate change have the potential to fundamentally reorganize marine communities leading to an increasing need for better and more integrated planning of the marine environment and resources. Such efforts, however, come with significant challenges given that planning of the seas is based on administrative and jurisdictional delineations, while ecological processes do not respect such boundaries. It is important, therefore, to account for connectivity within marine planning processes, including those that may take place in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).