Marine Sanctuary System

The National Marine Sanctuary System consists of 15 marine protected areas that encompass more than 150,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington State to the Florida Keys, and from Lake Huron to American Samoa. The system includes 14 national marine sanctuaries and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

1. Olympic Coast Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary represents one of North America’s most productive marine ecosystems and spectacular undeveloped coastlines.Designated by NOAA on July 22, 1994, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary includes 3,188 square miles of marine waters off the rugged Olympic Peninsula coastline. The sanctuary extends approximately 25 to 45 miles seaward, covering much of the continental shelf and several major submarine canyons. The sanctuary protects a productive upwelling zone—home to marine mammals and seabirds. Along its shores are thriving kelp and intertidal communities, teeming with fish and other sea life. In the darkness of the seafloor, scattered communities of deep-sea coral and sponges form habitats for fish and other important marine wildlife. The sanctuary has a rich cultural and historical legacy. The vibrant contemporary communities of the Hoh Tribe, Makah Tribe, Quileute Tribe, and the Quinault Indian Nation have forged inseparable ties to the ocean environment, maintaining traditions of the past while they navigate the challenges of the present. We are all committed to the highest level of public service and our mission: To protect the Olympic Coast’s natural and cultural resources through responsible stewardship, to conduct and apply research to preserve the area’s ecological integrity and maritime heritage, and to promote understanding through public outreach and education.
2. Designated in 1981, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS) spanned 1,279-square-miles (966 square nautical miles) just north and west of San Francisco Bay, and protected open ocean, nearshore tidal flats, rocky intertidal areas, estuarine wetlands, subtidal reefs, and coastal beaches within its boundaries. In 2015, GFNMS expanded north and west of their original boundaries to encompass 3,295 square miles, and changed their name to Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. GFNMS has administrative jurisdiction over the northern portion of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, from the San Mateo/Santa Cruz County line northward to the existing boundary between the two sanctuaries. GFNMS maintains an administrative office and public Visitor Center on Crissy Field in the Presidio of San Francisco.

GFNMS is located within the California Current ecosystem, one of four major eastern boundary currents in the world, that stretches along the western coast of North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Due to a high degree of wind-driven upwelling, there is a ready supply of nutrients to surface waters and the California Current ecosystem is one of the most biologically productive regions in the world.

GFNMS is a globally significant, extraordinarily diverse, and productive marine ecosystem that supports abundant wildlife and valuable fisheries. It provides breeding and feeding grounds for at least twenty-five endangered or threatened species; thirty-six marine mammal species, including blue, gray, and humpback whales, harbor seals, elephant seals, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and one of the southernmost U.S. populations of threatened Steller sea lions; over a quarter-million breeding seabirds; and one of the most significant white shark populations on the planet.

3. Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is entirely offshore. Within its 1,286 square miles, the sanctuary protects soft seafloor habitat, a rocky bank, deep sea canyons, and communities of wildlife throughout. Its surface waters are feeding areas for local and migratory seabirds and marine mammals.

The offshore location of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary makes for an ideal “ocean” study area. Sanctuary scientists collaborate with universities, nongovernmental organizations, federal agencies, and others to learn about and monitor these biodiverse waters.

4. Welcome to Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary! One of our nation’s most spectacular marine protected areas, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary offers some of the best wildlife viewing in the world! This “Serengeti of the Sea” stretches along the central coast from San Francisco to Cambria and includes pristine beaches, jewel-like tide pools, lush kelp forests, steep canyons and an offshore seamount teeming with life—from tiny shrimp to giant blue whales. The National Marine Sanctuary System promotes environmental protection, stewardship and ocean research. We invite you to explore and help protect this national undersea treasure
   
   
5. Channel Islands National Park provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities and a delightful break from the congestion and clamor of urban life. However, since the park encompasses five islands and their surrounding one mile of the ocean, the decision of where to go, what to do, and how to do it can be challenging. So compiled within this “Planning Your Visit” section is detailed information to help you make sense of it all. Click on the links below or in the navigation to start planning a great trip to the park.

Close to the California mainland, yet worlds apart, the park encompasses five of the eight California Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara) and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. The park bridges two biogeographical provinces and in a remarkably small place, harbors the biologic diversity of nearly 2,500 miles of the North American coast. The Channel Islands are home to over 2,000 plant and animal species, of which 145 are found nowhere else in the world.

Like the Galapagos Islands of South America, isolation has allowed evolution to proceed independently on the islands. Marine life ranges from microscopic plankton to the blue whale, the largest animal to live on Earth. Archeological and cultural resources span a period of more than 13,000 years of human habitation.

The protection of these fragile island resources was ensured when Congress, in the act that created Channel Islands National Park in 1980, established a long-term ecological monitoring program to gather information on the current health of resources and predict future conditions. This information provides park and natural resource managers with useful products for recreation planning, conservation and restoration programs, and early identification of critical issues.

The islands were set aside by Congress not only to preserve these resources, but also to provide for your enjoyment. If you visit the park, you will be one of a very select group. Few people actually see this park because it is not easy to get to-you can’t drive to the islands. A short but exciting ocean voyage or a commercial flight in a small airplane is required. The park is one of the least visited of all of America’s national parks. The relatively light visitation enhances the islands’ feeling of solitude and assists in the protection of fragile resources. In establishing the park, Congress recognized the value of solitude by allowing for low intensity, limited entry visitation. So a visit to this national park will always provide a marked contrast to the bustle of southern California most people experience. It will always be a place where you can step back in time and experience coastal southern California the way it once was.

We are delighted you are interested in this marvelous place. Thanks for making the effort! We hope our park website encourages you to safely explore and discover Channel Islands National Park while taking care to protect and keep these beautiful and fragile islands unimpaired for future generations.

Ethan McKinley

Superintendent

6. Researchers from NOAA, the state of Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust have discovered an intact shipwreck resting hundreds of feet below the surface of Lake Huron. Located within NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the shipwreck has been identified as the sailing ship Ironton. Magnificently preserved by the cold freshwater of the Great Lakes for over a century, the 191-foot Ironton rests upright with its three masts still standing.

“The discovery illustrates how we can use the past to create a better future,” said Jeff Gray, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent. “Using this cutting-edge technology, we have not only located a pristine shipwreck lost for over a century, we are also learning more about one of our nation’s most important natural resources—the Great Lakes. This research will help protect Lake Huron and its rich history.”

7. Designated in 2021, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary provides stewardship for our nation’s maritime heritage in Lake Michigan. Co-managed by NOAA and the state of Wisconsin, the sanctuary expands on the state’s 30-year management of these historic sites, bringing new opportunities for research, resource protection, and education. In partnership with local communities, the sanctuary provides a national stage for promoting recreation and heritage tourism.

The 36 historic shipwreck sites within the sanctuary represent vessels that played a central role in building the nation between the 1830s and 1930s. Twenty-seven are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and research suggests that another 60 shipwrecks may yet to be discovered.

8. Designated in 2024, Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is a historically rich area where the long interactions between human activity and the maritime environment has fostered a deep sense of meaning and place. The lake shores and bottomlands of Lake Ontario offer an intriguing window into the history of this special area. The first regional inhabitants, the ancestors of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, populated the area thousands of years ago. As the gateway between the Great Lakes and the ocean, the maritime landscape of this area represents connections between diverse cultures, between a nascent nation and the frontier, and of commerce, opportunity, and ingenuity. The cultural legacy of people who lived along its shores and journeyed across its waters is showcased by the remains left behind and the stories passed down. Forgotten shipwrecks and archaeological resources, hidden in these cold fresh waters, are among the best preserved in the world, offering a chance to learn, share, and connect to the past.

The robust public process to designate Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary began on January 17, 2017, when leaders of four New York counties (Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga, and Wayne) and the city of Oswego, with support from the governor of New York, submitted a nomination to NOAA through the sanctuary nomination process. NOAA published a notice of intent to initiate the designation process on April 19, 2019, a draft environmental impact statement and draft management plan on July 7, 2021, and a notice of proposed rulemaking on January 19, 2023. The final environmental impact statement was published on April 19, 2024. The sanctuary will become effective this summer after 45 days of continuous session of Congress, beginning on the date the final rule is published.

9. Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a wild ocean place near an urban world, sits east of Boston, Massachusetts between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. Historically important as a fishing ground, New England’s only national marine sanctuary now reigns as a premier whale watching destination and continues to support commercial and recreational fishing. Its shipwrecks serve as time capsules of our nation’s maritime history.

Congress designated Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary as part of the reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on November 4, 1992.

10. Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary Beyond the Ghost Fleet, the area’s history includes connections to the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. In addition, it has a rich heritage of commercial fishing, the military, the Piscataway Indian Nation and the Piscataway Conoy Tribe of Maryland, as well as the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia. Its significance is recognized by the national Register of Historic Places and it is listed as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is a part of the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area.

On September 3, 2019, NOAA designated Mallows Bay-Potomac River as the first national marine sanctuary in nearly 20 years. The sanctuary will be jointly managed by the state of Maryland and Charles County, Maryland, for the purposes of protecting the Ghost Fleet and related cultural heritage as well as to facilitate recreational access and economic opportunity.

11. On January 30, 1975, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) designated the wreck of the USS Monitor as the nation’s first national marine sanctuary. Over 45 years later, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary continues to protect this famed Civil War ironclad. The staff of Monitor National Marine Sanctuary are located in Newport News, Virginia.

Paul.Orlando@noaa.gov

Paul “Sammy” Orlando is the superintendent for both Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary. Sammy joined NOAA in 1983 and has worked for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in various capacities since 2002.

12. Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary is an ocean park teeming with life. The natural live-bottom habitats of the sanctuary are representative of others across the region. The sanctuary provides year-round opportunities for sport fishing, recreational diving, and boating. The research area within the sanctuary hosts one of the only designated no-take zones in the region, which makes Gray’s Reef a catalyst for scientific research studying water quality, ocean noise, hurricane prediction, and climate change. Safely tucked away in the Atlantic Ocean, Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary is cared for and treasured by divers, anglers, scientists, and conservationists. NOAA designated the area as a national marine sanctuary in 1981 because of its diversity of species and abundance of marine life. Almost 1,000 species of invertebrates—animals without a backbone—and 200 species of fish have been identified at Gray’s Reef. The area is abundant with wildlife swimming around, crawling on the ocean floor, and growing on its rocky ledges.

The 22-square-mile sanctuary protects a vibrant, hard-bottom ocean area off the Georgia coast, about 19 miles east of Sapelo Island, and 40 miles southeast of historic Savannah, Georgia. Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary is one of only 16 marine protected areas that make up the National Marine Sanctuary System and is governed by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

13. On January 19, 2021, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary was expanded from 56 square miles to 160 square miles to protect additional critical habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. This means that the sanctuary is now made up of 17 different banks within 19 separate boundaries. You can explore the entire sanctuary and it’s surroundings within the story map below.

The sanctuary protects portions of 17 separate reefs and banks in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. These banks are a combination of small underwater mountains, ridges, troughs, and hard bottom patches along the continental shelf, created by underlying salt domes. Together, they create a chain of protected habitats for ecologically and economically important species across the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

When first designated in 1992, the sanctuary consisted of only East and West Flower Garden Banks, home to some of the healthiest coral reefs in the world. Stetson Bank was added to the sanctuary in 1996. In 2021, portions of 14 more banks were added to the sanctuary. These include Horseshoe Bank, MacNeil, Rankin, 28 Fathom, Bright, Geyer, Elvers, McGrail, Bouma, Sonnier, Rezak, Sidner, Parker, and Alderdice Banks.

14. Florida Keys Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was designated on November 16, 1990, following a series of boat groundings on the island chain’s irreplaceable coral reefs, along with concerns about the decline of the reef ecosystem in the area. Today, the sanctuary protects 3,800 square miles of waters surrounding the Florida Keys, from south of Miami westward to the Dry Tortugas, excluding Dry Tortugas National Park. The shoreward boundary of the sanctuary is the mean high-water mark, meaning once you set foot in Keys waters, you enter Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary is administered by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and is jointly managed with the state of Florida.

Within the boundaries of this sanctuary lie unique and nationally significant marine resources including North America’s only coral barrier reef, extensive seagrass beds, mangrove-fringed islands, and more than 6,000 species of marine life. The sanctuary also protects pieces of our nation’s history such as shipwrecks and other archeological treasures.

Visitors to the sanctuary are encouraged to take advantage of the many recreational activities this amazing ecosystem has to offer, including world-class diving, swimming, snorkeling, and fishing. However, rules and regulations are in place to make sure that these activities only happen in ways — and at places — that reduce user conflict and are not harmful to the sanctuary’s natural and cultural resources.

The Florida Keys have more than 77,000 residents and up to 5.5 million annual visitors, and a local economy of nearly $5.0 billion. In 2018, tourism spending in Monroe County accounted for $2.4 billion, supporting 44 percent of jobs/employment in the county. Tourism activity and spending is heavily dependent on the maintenance of a healthy marine environment. Approximately 60% of the economy is tied directly to marine-related activities, including commercial and recreational fishing, boating, diving, wildlife viewing, and other various tourist-related activities. A declining marine environment puts the Florida Keys’ economy and jobs at risk.

15. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. The Hawaiian Islands are the principal winter breeding grounds for the North Pacific humpback whale population. Each winter and spring approximately half of the north Pacific humpback whales, representing thousands of animals, visit the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, including sanctuary waters. Here they breed, give birth, and nurse their young.

Humpback whales are generally seen in Hawaiʻi from November through April each year, with the peak season from January through March. While in Hawai‘i, humpback whales engage in all aspects of the breeding cycle, including competing for mates, mating, giving birth, and nursing newborn calves.

Because the Hawaiian Islands are such an important breeding habitat for the population, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was created to offer protection for whales while in their prefered habitats, which are the relatively shallow waters less than about 600 feet deep that are found around the islands. These areas include Penguin Bank, the Maui Nui region (Maui, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i, and Kaho‘olawe), Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, Hawai‘i Island, and O’ahu.

In addition to humpback whales, 23 other cetacean species have been observed in Hawaiian waters, including the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), and the spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata).