What is a National Marine Sanctuary?

Our national marine sanctuaries embrace part of our collective riches as a nation. Within their protected waters, giant humpback whales breed and calve their young, coral colonies flourish, and shipwrecks tell stories of our maritime history. Sanctuary habitats include beautiful rocky reefs, lush kelp forests, whale migration corridors, spectacular deep-sea canyons, and underwater archaeological sites.

Thirteen diverse National Marine Sanctuaries have been designated, including the vast coral reefs of the Florida Keys, rich fishing grounds of Stellwagen Bank off New England, historical shiprecks in the Great Lakes, and humpback whale breeding grounds in Hawaii. Ranging in size from less than one square mile for the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary in American Samoa to over 5,300 square miles for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, each sanctuary is a unique place-an underwater world so rich in biological and cultural resources that it needs to be protected and managed. Natural classrooms, cherished recreational spots, and valuable commercial industries-marine sanctuaries represent many things to many people.

The mission of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System, which oversees these 13 sites, is to serve as the trustee for the nation's system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity and cultural legacy. Its goals are appropriate to the unique diversity contained within individual sites. They may include restoring and rebuilding marine habitats or ecosystems to their natural condition or monitoring and maintaining already healthy areas. One sanctuary may protect the breeding and calving grounds of humpback whales while another houses the remains of 18th century shipwrecks. Yet all share in common a growing circle of partners and volunteers who embrace the program's ocean ethic--to preserve and protect and respect our nation's marine environment.