Marine Sanctuaries

National Marine Sanctuary Program
The National Marine Sanctuary Program was established under the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. The mission is to designate and manage areas of the marine or Great Lakes environment of special national significance due to their conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, research, educational, or aesthetic qualities. Administration of sanctuaries relies upon effective resource protection, educational, research, and enforcement programs. Sanctuaries, frequently compared to underwater parks, are managed according to Management Plans, prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on a site-by-site basis.

Since 1972, twelve areas have been designated as National Marine Sanctuaries, with another proposed for the year 2000:

Channel Islands
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is located 25 miles (22 nautical miles) off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. The sanctuary encompasses the waters surrounding Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara islands, extending from mean high tide to seven miles (six nautical miles) offshore. The waters that swirl around the five islands within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary combine warm and cool currents to create an exceptional breeding ground for many species of plants and animals.

113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara, Ca. 93109 (805) 966-7107

https://channelislands.noaa.gov/

Cordell Bank
About 52 miles (45 nautical miles) northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, at the edge of the continental shelf, Cordell Bank rises from the seafloor. Over most of it, the water is about 200 feet deep. The site is a lush feeding ground for many marine mammals and seabirds. Algae and invertebrates proliferate. Endangered humpback whales along with Dall's porpoises, albatross, shearwaters, and countless other marine species flourish in this extraordinarily rich marine environment.

Fort Mason, Bldg. #201, San Francisco, Ca. 94123 (415) 561-6622

https://cordellbank.noaa.gov/

Fagatele Bay
Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary comprises a fringing coral reef ecosystem nestled within an eroded volcanic crater on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. This smallest and most remote of all the National Marine Sanctuaries is the only true tropical reef in the Program. Fagatele Bay provides a home to a wide variety of animals and plants, that thrive in the protected waters of the bay. The coral reef ecosystem found in the Sanctuary contains many of the species native to this part of the Indo-Pacific biogeographic region. Turtle, whales, sharks and the giant clam all find refuge in this protected area.

P.O. Box 4318, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 (684) 633-7354

https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/vr/american-samoa/fagatele-bay/

Florida Keys
The Florida Keys archipelago is known world wide for its extensive offshore coral reefs. However, this sub-tropical region also sustains many other interdependent habitats including fringing mangroves, seagrass meadows, hardbottom regions, patch reefs, and bank reefs. This complex marine ecosystem is the foundation for the commercial fishing and tourism-based economies that are vital to south Florida.

P.O. Box 500368, Marathon, Fl. 33050 (305) 743-2437

https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/

Flower Garden Banks
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located about 110 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, harbors the northernmost coral reefs in the United States and serves as a regional reservoir of shallow water Caribbean reef fishes and invertebrates. The coral reefs rise to within 66 feet of the surface. The Banks themselves are surface expressions of salt domes whose formation began 160 to 170 million years ago in what was a shallow sea, subject to evaporation. Today it has become a premier diving destination and attracts scientists from around the world.

216 West 26^th Street, Suite 104, Bryan, Texas 77803, (409) 779-2705

https://flowergarden.noaa.gov/

Gray's Reef
More than 14,000 years ago before the retreat of the last Ice Age glaciers, enormous bison, camels and mastodons roamed the rolling Georgia coastline, which extended 60 miles east of the current coast. This ancient coastline, now submerged within the boundaries of NOAA's Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, still provides a healthy habitat for a wide variety of creatures albeit less furry. Modern day Gray's Reef comprises one of the largest nearshore sandstone reefs in the southeastern United States.

10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411 (912) 598-2345

https://graysreef.noaa.gov

Gulf of Farallones
Just north and west of San Francisco Bay a large expanse of Pacific Ocean along with nearshore tidal flats, rocky intertidal areas, wetlands, subtidal reefs, and coastal beaches were designated in 1981 as Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. This 1,255 square mile area (948 square nautical miles) is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The sanctuary has thousands of seals and sea lions, and is home to the largest concentration of breeding seabirds in the continental U.S.

Fort Mason, Bldg. #201, San Francisco, Ca. 94123 (415) 561-6622

https://farallones.noaa.gov/

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale
The waters around the main Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kaho'olawe constitute one of the world's most important North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) habitats and the only place in the U.S. where humpbacks reproduce. Scientists estimate that two-thirds of the entire North Pacific humpback whale population (approximately 4000-5000 whales) migrate to Hawaiian waters to breed, calve and nurse their young.

726 South Kihei Rd., Kihei, HI 96753 (808) 879-2818

https://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/

Monitor
The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary protects the wreck of the famed Civil War ironclad USS Monitor, best known for its battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862. For over a century, the Monitor lay undiscovered in 235 feet of water 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In August of 1973, scientists aboard Duke University's research vessel Eastward located the Monitor using sidescan sonar. The Monitor was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 1974 as a resource of national significance. In January, 1975, the Monitor became the first National Marine Sanctuary.

The Mariner's Museum, 100 Museum Dr., Newport News, VA 23606 (757) 599-3122

https://monitor.noaa.gov/

Monterey Bay
The waters of Monterey Bay and the adjacent Pacific Ocean off the central California coast were designated and protected in 1992 as the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This vast area stretches 400 miles (348 nautical miles) north to south, extends an average of 35 miles (30 nautical miles) offshore, and covers over 5300 square miles (4,024 square nautical miles).

299 Foam Street, Suite D, Monterey, Ca. 93940 (408) 647-4201

https://montereybay.noaa.gov/

Olympic Coast
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary covers over 3300 square miles (2500 square nautical miles) of ocean waters off Washington State's rugged and rocky Olympic Peninsula coastline. Sanctuary waters extend an average of 35 miles (30 nautical miles) offshore and span 135 miles (117 nautical miles) north to south, stretching from United States/Canada international boundary to the Copalis River. The sanctuary provides habitat for one of the most diverse marine mammal faunas in North America, and is a critical link in the Pacific flyway.

138 W. 1st Street, Port Angeles, Wa. 98362 (360) 457-6622

https://olympiccoast.noaa.gov/

Stellwagen Bank
The slow retreat of massive Ice Age glaciers formed what is today Stellwagen Bank, a sand and gravel plateau at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. There, ocean currents sweep water in and out of the bay, with the bank partially blocking the opening and funneling the flow into relatively narrow passageways.

14 Union Street, Plymouth, MA 02360 (508) 747-1691

https://stellwagen.noaa.gov/

Proposed Sanctuaries

Thunder Bay
The waters of Lake Huron's Thunder Bay in the state of Michigan are proposed for designation as a national marine sanctuary in the year 2000. The region contains approximately 160 shipwrecks that span more than a century of Great Lakes maritime history.

https://thunderbay.noaa.gov/

Regulated Activities

The Sanctuaries are treasures that belong to all of us. To protect the resources within the Sanctuaries for current and future generations, the following activities are regulated:

• Can't drill, mine, dredge, dump waste in or remove artifacts from a sanctuary
• Shipping is restricted to certain lanes to minimize the possibility of wrecks and spills
• Commercial fishing, diving for edible species and setting traps for crabs and lobsters are generally permitted
• Sportfishing, spearfishing, boating and other types of recreation are also generally permitted

Note: Spearfishing is NOT allowed in the Flower Gardens. And, only certain types of commercial gear are allowed.

For details regarding restrictions on the above activities, or to request permission to engage in a restricted activity, contact the Sanctuary office. Permission to engage in restricted activities will be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the need for the activity, benefits expected to be gained and impacts to Sanctuary resources.

The National Marine Sanctuaries Program expands our nation's long history of protecting special areas on land to embrace the seas. It brings an ecosystem approach to marine environmental protection and asks us to adopt a new ethic of marine stewardship, but perhaps most of all, it challenges us all to work together to find creative solutions to the problems facing our oceans and coasts.