Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary represents one of North America's most productive marine ecosystems and spectacular undeveloped shorelines.

In size, OCNMS covers an area comparable to the following:

• 1.7 times larger than the entire Puget Sound
• Almost two and a half times larger than Olympic National Park
• The same size as Puerto Rico
• The states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined

Marine wildlife thrives here. Twenty nine species of marine mammals and scores of seabird species spend parts of their lives here; gray whales visit as part of the longest mammal migration on earth and albatross gather food here to return to nestlings on mid-Pacific islands and atolls. Sea otters munch on macro-invertebrates such as urchins, which in turn graze on majestic kelp forests. Fishes occupy myriad niches from the deepest ocean canyons to the shallowest tide pools.

Influenced by geology, ocean currents and other global processes, the Olympic Coast's temperate location and physical environment supports critical habitats and unique communities of organisms, including one of the most diverse seaweed communities in the world.

The human story is important too. For millennia, Native American cultures have lived in a unique relationship with the ocean. And beginning in the 16th century, European exploration and eventually settlement have left a compelling historical legacy on the Olympic Coast.