Image Gallery

Marine protected areas provide recreation opportunities (e.g., fishing, swimming, and kayaking) for millions of Americans each year.

Diving and snorkeling continue to be popular recreation activities, including here at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Georgia. NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System includes habitats such as rocky reefs, lush kelp forests, deep-sea canyons, and underwater archaeological sites that offer many recreational opportunities for visitors.

Located north of Monterey, Calif., this site is renowned for outstanding birding opportunities. There are a total of 28 National Estuarine Research Reserves located in 22 states and Puerto Rico. The reserves protect more than 1.3 million coastal and estuarine acres.

Madrepora oculata is one of the deepest reef building stony corals in the world, known to occur as deep as 2020 meters. Colonies are distinguished by the zig-zag appearance of their branches. This colony is home to several squat lobsters at 750 meters depth in Roatan, Honduras. The green laser points in the lower center are 10 cm apart.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear.

Not all sea fans are flexible enough to bend in the currents. This precious coral Corallium species has a rigid calcitic skeleton like stony corals. The sea fans are referred to as precious corals because they are harvested for the jewelry trade in some parts of the world. This particular colony is from 750 meters depth in Roatan, Honduras. The green laser points in the lower center are 10 cm apart.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear.

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Naturalist Corps volunteers support a whale watching expedition. (Image courtesy of Bob Perry, Condor Express)

The students of NOAA Climate Stewards participate in a variety of activities, ranging from planting and maintaining a garden in Maryland (shown here), to growing native sea grasses in rural Louisiana, to water quality testing in Hawaii.

NOAA Restoration Day is one of the largest voluntary federal employee-sponsored environmental stewardship events in the Chesapeake Bay watershed region. The event is organized by the National Ocean Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Let NOAA staff inspire you! NOAA employees volunteer in a number of ways, including the Marine Animal Rescue Program at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Here, volunteers release a rehabilitated harbor seal named Hopper.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn joins Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator; David Kennedy, NOS Assistant Administrator; Marc Miller, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director; and Senator Richard Durbin at signing ceremony on March 9, 2012, to approve the new Illinois Coastal Management Program.

Illinois — the last eligible state — joined the national coastal management program on March 9, 2012. The creation of the Illinois Coastal Management Program comes at the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Coastal Zone Management Act by Congress in 1972.

Because we rely on coastal areas as places to live (more than half of us live along the coast), visit, get food from, and transport goods through, we need to manage and protect these areas. One mechanism for managing our nation’s diverse coastal regions is the National Coastal Zone Management Program.

A diver enjoys the sights in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Gray's Reef is one of the largest near-shore live-bottom reefs of the southeastern United States. It's just one of the 14 national marine protected areas that make up the National Marine Sanctuary System.

Amberjacks swimming behind an outcropping of sponge coral in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary.

An arrow crab perched on a sea urchin, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Gray's Reef was designated as a sanctuary on January 16, 1981, and is the only protected natural reef area on the continental shelf off the Georgia coast.

Northern elephant seals, like all marine mammals, are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Hawai'ian spiny lobster at Necker Island in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

A red-footed booby at the Three Sisters at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

The deep-water sea fan Plumarella pellucida at 150 m depth in Georgetown Hole, off the coast of Georgia. The genus Plumarella has pharmaceutical properties that may yield new drug discoveries one day.

In April 2010, a team of researchers aboard NOAA ship PISCES explored deep coral habitat at a depth of 100-300 meters off Georgia, east of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in South Atlantic Bight. The team used a remotely operated vehicle, fisheries acoustics, and a grab sampler to collect corals and sediment. The rugged bottom topography and the coral mounds are attractive features for deep-sea reef fish like wreckfish and blackbelly rosefish. Large barrelfish and red bream also shelter in the rugged bottom. Credit: NOAA Exploring Deep Sea Coral Expedition 2010.

Several deep-water sea fans (Plumarella pellucida) were photographed with a basket star at 150 m using a remotely operated vehicle in Georgetown Hole, Ga.

In April 2010, a team of researchers aboard NOAA ship PISCES explored deep coral habitat at a depth of 100-300 meters off Georgia, east of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in South Atlantic Bight. The team used a remotely operated vehicle, fisheries acoustics, and a grab sampler to collect corals and sediment. The rugged bottom topography and the coral mounds are attractive features for deep-sea reef fish like wreckfish and blackbelly rosefish. Large barrelfish and red bream also shelter in the rugged bottom. Credit: NOAA Exploring Deep Sea Coral Expedition 2010

Two species of brightly colored crinoids living upon a deep-sea black coral (Antipathes specie) near 300 meters depth in Roatan, Honduras. Pale yellow featherstars are likely Crinometra brevipinna. The banded white and orange featherstar may be Neocomatella pulchella.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Credit: NOAA DeepCAST III Expedition

Large colony of the deep-water coral Madracis myriaster at 150 m in Roatan, Honduras. The green laser points visible in the lower right are 10 cm apart.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear.Credit: NOAA DeepCAST II Expedition

The brightly colored brisingid seastar Novodinia antillensis is fairly common near 500 meters depth in Roatan, Honduras.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Credit: NOAA DeepCAST I Expedition

Deepwater grouper in Madracis myriaster coral at 150 m depth in Roatan.

In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Credit: NOAA DeepCAST II Expedition

Southern sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, at South Harbor, Moss Landing, California. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Dr. Steve Lonhart.

A crab builds a home on a beach in the U.S. Virgin Islands. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Malinda Vagasky.

Sunset over Hendry's Beach, Santa Barbara, California. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Chris Seaton.

A red sea fan (Swiftia pacifica) with shrimp on the branches and crabs at the base. This is one of several images of rarely seen deep-sea animals captured on camera in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. During an Aug. 2011 expedition, researchers used a NOAA remotely operated vehicle in waters 328 to 656 feet deep (100 to 200 meters) off the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Research partners included NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research; plus academic partners from Washington State University and crew of Oregon State University's R/V Pacific Storm. The research to study deep-sea corals was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

A school of canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger). This is one of several images of rarely seen deep-sea animals captured on camera in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. During an Aug. 2011 expedition, researchers used a NOAA remotely operated vehicle in waters 328 to 656 feet deep (100 to 200 meters) off the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Research partners included NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research; plus academic partners from Washington State University and crew of Oregon State University's R/V Pacific Storm. The research to study deep-sea corals was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

A white-lobed sponge. This is one of several images of rarely seen deep-sea animals captured on camera in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. During an Aug. 2011 expedition, researchers used a NOAA remotely operated vehicle in waters 328 to 656 feet deep (100 to 200 meters) off the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Research partners included NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research; plus academic partners from Washington State University and crew of Oregon State University's R/V Pacific Storm. The research to study deep-sea corals was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

A spiny dogfish (Squalis acanthias) patrolling the seafloor. This is one of several images of rarely seen deep-sea animals captured on camera in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. During an Aug. 2011 expedition, researchers used a NOAA remotely operated vehicle in waters 328 to 656 feet deep (100 to 200 meters) off the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Research partners included NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research; plus academic partners from Washington State University and crew of Oregon State University's R/V Pacific Storm. The research to study deep-sea corals was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services manages the National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON). NWLON provides basic water-level information to determine U.S. coastal marine boundaries and to create nautical charts. On September 9, 2011, a new water level station on Lake Michigan in Holland, Michigan, was declared officially operational. The new station, a replacement for an older structure, was a joint upgrade effort by NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District office. The new station is expected to provide modernized and highly-reliable water level data to the Great Lakes community for the next 50+ years.

Nitrogen is a nutrient that plants need to grow. While helpful in small amounts, too much nitrogen can cause explosive growths of algae that depletes the water of oxygen when the algae die and are eaten by bacteria. This condition is called nutrient pollution. Across the nation, shallow water habitats are increasingly under threat from too many nutrients introduced into our waterways through activities ranging from sewage runoff to over-fertilization of lawns. Recently, scientists sponsored by NOAA's Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise Program, part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, found that habitats in North Carolina such as submerged aquatic plants and oyster reefs provide about $3,000 per acre per year in nitrogen removal services, while wetlands provide about $2,500 per acre year. Putting a dollar value to the helpful role these types of ecosystems provide in removing excess nutrients from our waterways will help decision makers better protect our shallow water habitats.

An osprey enjoying a nice breakfast in the Potomac River. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Kevin Watkins.

Driftwood on the beach, Atlantic Ocean. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Jacqueline Bedell.

Viewing the Pacific Ocean from Lāwa`i Kai, on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Dawn Forsythe.

Giant Clams in Palau, Federated States of Micronesia World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Doug Helton.

Did you know that, even though they live in the ocean all of the time, dolphins are mammals, not fish?

Sharks have gotten a bad reputation as "man eaters," but the reality is that less than 100 people are attacked by sharks each year and only a handful of species of sharks are responsible for such attacks. Most of the species out there have never been noted to attack a human.

Octopuses are boneless creatures. They are invertebrates with extremely flexible bodies that can squeeze through incredibly small spaces.

Three willetts along the beach in Monterey, California. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Paul Jimerson.

Mirror reflection in Whittier, Alaska. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Henry Hauch.

An image of a crab backlit by the setting sun in West Bengal, India. World Ocean Day Photo Contest Submission by Arnab De.

Spectators look on as homemade cardboard boats race across the Thunder Bay River in Michigan during the 1st annual Cardboard Boat Regatta on July 4, 2011. The Regatta is part of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Maritime Festival, a celebration of the area's rich maritime heritage and America's birthday!

This yellow sea fan is an octocoral colony in the family Paramuriceidae at 400 meters (1,312 feet) depth in Roatan, Honduras. The white forms in the branches are ophiuroid brittle stars (or "snake stars") in the genus Asteroschema. In 2010 and 2011, NOAA researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Image credit: NOAA DeepCAST I Expedition.

The brisingid sea-star Novodinia antillensis perched on a rock next to a primnoid sea fan colony at 610 meters (2,001 feet) depth in Roatan, Honduras. In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Image credit: NOAA DeepCAST II Expedition.

An aggregation of the reef building scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa at 580 meters (1,903 feet) depth in Roatan, Honduras. In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Image credit: NOAA DeepCAST I Expedition.

Four crinoids (feather stars) with a squat lobster on top of a sea fan colony with Lophelia pertusa growing at the base. The image is from 400 meters (1,312 feet) depth in Roatan, Honduras. In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear. Image credit: NOAA DeepCAST II Expedition.

A single colony of the black coral Bathypathes sp. forms habitat for two squat lobsters and a fish at 400 meters (1,312 feet) depth in Roatan, Honduras. In 2010 and 2011, a NOAA-led team of researchers explored the deep Meso-American Reef off Roatan, Honduras, as part of a multi-year expedition called 'Deep Coral and Associated Species Taxonomy and Ecology', or DeepCAST. The goal of DeepCAST is to estimate deep-sea coral abundance and diversity; and to discern the nature of the relationship between host corals and their associated species. The primary reasons we study deep-sea corals are because they provide habitat to other species of fish, sea stars, shrimp and crabs; and they grow very slowly, so they are vulnerable to bottom contact fishing gear.Image credit: NOAA DeepCAST I Expedition.

With distinctive reddish and white stripes, gracefully flowing fins, and menacing spines, few fish embody the beauty, mystery, and danger of the ocean quite like the lionfish. Although native to the Indo-Pacific region, lionfish were introduced to the Atlantic and are now found along the U.S. coast from North Carolina to Florida and in the Bahamas and Caribbean. The lionfish's lack of predators, voracious appetite, rapid reproduction, and fast growth spell trouble for the balance of invaded ecosystems and fisheries, as lionfish can out-compete native species for food and space.

Over 50 percent of the nation's population lives in only 17 percent of the U.S. land area (excluding Alaska), which generates a wide range of pressures on sensitive coastal ecosystems. As our nation's coastal county population continues to grow, it is imperative to understand, manage, and protect the bounty and beauty that have drawn so many Americans to our coasts. Learn more about our nation's coastal areas on the State of the Coast website.

If you filled out the 2010 Census form from the U.S. Census Bureau, then you had a part in defining the centroid — the point where the center of the U.S. population falls. Every 10 years, after the Census Bureau crunches the numbers and figures out where the centroid is, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey places a geodetic survey disk (also called a survey marker, monument, or bench mark) in the incorporated community closest to its exact geographic location. For the 2010 Census, the centroid is located in Plato, Missouri.

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey worked with state and federal partners following the March 11, 2011 tsunami. Using a small boat equipped with powerful echo-sounding SONAR equipment, this navigation response team in Crescent City, Calif, searched the seafloor for sunken vessels, debris, and other hazards dangerous to commercial shippers and recreational boaters.

The March 11, 2011 tsunami off the coast of Japan left the port at Crescent City, Calif., in a shambles, with marine debris and wreckage above and below the waterline. To prepare the port for re-opening, a navigation response team from NOAA's Office of Coast Survey used their echo sounders to find underwater debris.

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey responded to requests from the Coast Guard and the Army Corp of Engineers following the March 11, 2011 tsunami. A navigation response team surveyed the federal channel at the port in Santa Cruz, Calif., which experienced extensive damage and destruction to boats, looking for submerged debris. The bathymetric data will also be used to update NOAA's nautical charts of the area.

Seventy-five percent of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures, according to a 2011 analysis. The most immediate and direct threats arise from local sources, which currently threaten more than 60% of coral reefs. Local threats include impacts from fishing, coastal development, and pollution. Left unchecked, the percent of threatened reefs will increase to more than 90% by 2030 and to nearly all reefs by 2050. Grab a desktop wallpaper of this image.

DNA testing confirmed that the eggs pictured here were those of a loggerhead turtle, a marine reptile species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA's Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research in Charleston, S.C., runs the only laboratory in the country dedicated to the forensic analysis of marine species. Learn more

A manatee, also known as a 'seacow.' These air-breathing herbivores are listed as a federally endangered species. Manatees are slow-moving and therefore unable to swim quickly away from boats; this often results in collisions that may cause injury or death to the creatures. In areas that are known manatee habitats, "no-wake" signs are posted requiring boaters to slow down and produce only minimal wake. Grab a desktop wallpaper of this image.

A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Oahu in Hawaii. Each year, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary hosts the 'Sanctuary Ocean Count.' Not only is this a fun volunteer activity for residents and visitors, but it also helps to provide important population and distribution information on humpback whales around the Hawaiian Islands. Learn more

Each year, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary hosts the 'Sanctuary Ocean Count.' This a fun volunteer activity for residents and visitors on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, and Kauai—and it helps to provide important population and distribution information on humpback whales around the Hawaiian Islands. Learn how you can get involved!

A view of the new "Gateway to NOAA," a permanent exhibit now open in Silver Spring, Maryland. The exhibit—only steps away from the Silver Spring Metro stop—features breathtaking imagery, multimedia presentations, and amazing artifacts that illustrate how NOAA has, since its earliest history, sought to increase people's understanding of the land, the sea, and the sky. Learn more

A map of a seamount in the Arctic Ocean created by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey by gathering data with a multibeam echo sounder. Grab a desktop wallpaper of this image.

With NOAA's predicted, real-time, and forecasted currents, people can safely dock and undock ships, maneuver them in confined waterways, and safely navigate through coastal waters. This helps to avoid ship collisions or delay the arrival of goods.

The balloonfish, also known as a porcupine or spiny puffer fish, swells up like a balloon when attacked. Grab a desktop wallpaper of this image.

A blue rockfish in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Calif.

A sunset viewed from Kure Atoll, located near Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.

Pacific white-sided dolphins in California.

A loggerhead turtle captured on camera during an 'Aquarius 2010' dive. During the 10-day mission, students from around the country participated in live broadcasts with Aquanauts based on NOAA's Aquarius, the world's only undersea research station.

Students from Adelante Elementary School in Santa Barbara, Calif., conducted a point-to-point live broadcast with Aquanauts, scientists, and educators from 60-feet underwater and topside in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries' 'Aquarius 2010: If Reefs Could Talk' mission in October, 2010. Check out the mission log online.

Aquarius Reef Base, the world's only undersea research station, is located within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Aquarius is home to scientists for missions up to 10 days long and is made to withstand the pressure of ocean depths to 120 feet deep.

The Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System, or 'PORTS,' operates in 20 ports around the country, including along the lower Mississippi. PORTS provides up-to-the-minute information on tides, currents, salinity, water and air temperature, atmospheric pressure, and wind (speed, gusts, and direction). This information helps mariners time the movement of their vessels – from the smallest recreational craft to the most massive oil tankers – through more than 50 U.S. seaports and waterways. Port authorities, local officials, and marine pilot associations also use PORTS to determine if a waterway is open and safe for navigation.

Several NOAA volunteers plant Switch Grass previously grown in 26 NOAA offices on a newly created Living Shoreline during the 2010 NOAA Restoration Day event at the NOAA Cooperative Oxford Lab in Oxford, Maryland.

Close-up image of brain coral in the Dry Tortugas, Florida.

Young children are inspired by the awe and wonder of marine life, such as this little girl holding the sea urchin.

The NOAA Ship Rainier is designed and outfitted primarily for conducting hydrographic surveys in support of nautical charting. The ship operates off the U.S. Pacific Coast, and in Alaskan coastal waters. The Rainier is named for Mount Rainier.

This school of permits contained 60-80 individuals, each over a foot long. The school was observed in the Dry Tortugas, Florida.

While you might not guess it from this photo, located off the coast of southern California, the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is adjacent to the growing counties of Ventura and Santa Barbara, and not far from the heavily populated Los Angeles metropolitan area.

There are nearly 3,500,000 square nautical miles of our nation's waters to monitor, understand, and chart. The Office of Coast Survey evaluates the 500,000 square natuical miles that are navigationally significant. Then, each spring, hydrographic field parties set out in vessels to survey sections of the 43,000 square nautical miles deemed to be critical by the Coast Survey's evaluation. Sometimes teams break loose from normal surveying to respond to disasters such as hurricanes.

A lobster pokes out of its hiding spot under a coral head in the Dry Tortugas, Florida.

A unique driftwood structure along the coast at Point Belcher, Alaska.

A Caribbean spiny lobster on the sea floor. This photo was shot during a 2010 NOAA expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands to map underwater habitats and the marine life they support.

A sea anemone nestled in plate coral and various types of algae. This photo was shot during a 2010 NOAA expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands to map underwater habitats and the marine life they support.

Rapture Reef sits within the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, which was created in 2006. One hundred times larger than Yellowstone National Park, the monument encompasses more than 140,000 square miles of ocean and coral reef habitat. It is the single largest fully protected marine conservation area in the world.

Employees of the National Geodetic Survey conducted leveling to check the stability of the Washington Monument for the National Park Service in the winter of 2008-2009.

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial is located on Lake Erie in Ohio and was built to commemorate Commodore Oliver Perry's victory over the British in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie.

Split Rock Lighthouse, located southwest of Silver Bay, Minn., on Lake Superior.

NOAA Ship Bay Hydro docked next to a NOAA tide station in Baltimore, Md.

A sea lion is captured in mid-backflip off the California coast.

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, one of the most technologically advanced hydrographic survey vessels in the world, departed its Norfolk, Virginia, homeport on April 6, 2010, to conduct a five-month long effort to map the seafloor and look for hazards to navigation off the Gulf coast.

Coralline algae at Rose Atoll, located off the coast of American Samoa. An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey established a high-accuracy vertical control network at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center to support coastal restoration, research, testing of new geodetic technologies, and monitoring of the effects of local relative sea-level rise. The network includes over a dozen geodetic bench marks distributed throughout the 510-acre wetland reserve near Graysonville, Maryland, with four deep-rod Surface Elevation Table (SET) marks located in the rapidly deteriorating marsh. Here, NOS employees install stainless steel rods into the ground as part of the process to install a SET. The SETs provide data to model the fate of the marsh in the face of rising water levels and ultimately provide insight into its restoration.

Feather worms with their gills exposed through holes in brain coral in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

Scientists from the Office of Coast Survey and the University of New Hampshire spent three weeks aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy in the Arctic using a sophisticated echo sounder to create a three-dimensional map of the sea floor in an area north of Alaska known as the Chukchi Cap. Here, the Healy crew lowers echo sounding equipment into the water. The data collected during the expedition will help scientists better understand the underwater landscape in the region and improve climate and ocean current circulation models.

A group of elephant seals sleep in the sun around a sand dune on Active Point, San Miguel Island, of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of California.

Tools such as Side Scan Sonars are helping NOS understand our marine environment.

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.

Multibeam sonar systems emit sound waves from directly beneath a ship's hull to produce fan-shaped coverage of the sea floor. These systems measure and record the time elapsed between the emission of the signal from the transducers to the sea floor or object and back again. Multibeam sonars produce a 'swath' of soundings (i.e., depths) to ensure full coverage of an area.

Staff from the National Geodetic Survey undertakes a GRAV-D flight to collect aerial gravity data over the Gulf Coast in the spring of 2009.

Anacapa Island is located within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of California.

A NOAA archaeologist uses a towboard to search for shipwrecks in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

The Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) is a nationally standardized database of land cover and land change information, developed using remotely sensed imagery, for the coastal regions of the United States. This image shows Mt. Pleasant (a suburb of Charleston), South Carolina.

Seven current meter platforms arrive by truck for the Miami Current Survey Project. The project originated in 2007 after requests for up-to-date current information were received from multiple navigational community and marine resource users. The current survey project supports navigation and the operation of deep draft vessels in the area and additionally benefits various state and federal agencies.

Divers free a seal from fishing nets. The impacts of marine debris such as floating nets are wide ranging. From being an eyesore on a beach to injuring marine life or stopping a 400-ton vessel at sea, marine debris is a problem that we cannot ignore.

A humpback whale breaching in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of California.

NOAA's air gap technology received the ultimate test on the morning of June 27, 2009. The technology passed with flying colors as the new U.S. Navy LPD ship, the USS New York, sailed down the Mississippi River, clearing the underside of the Huey P. Long Bridge just north of downtown New Orleans by 64 centimeters (2.1 feet). The San Antonio-class $1 billion naval vessel, built in part from steel salvaged from the World Trade Center towers, sailed downriver, heading out for a month of sea trials.

Horse-eye jacks (Caranx latus) swim by an NOS diver during a safety stop.

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services are collaborating with the National Estuarine Research Reserve System to establish and monitor coastal land elevations in relation to local sea level throughout the reserve system. This marker from the Chesapeake Bay Reserve in Virginia is part of the required spatial framework needed to establish the reserves as 'sentinel' sites for measuring and monitoring the impacts of climate change on estuarine systems. The inscription reads: 'National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Estuarine Research Reserve System; National Geodetic Survey.'

Removal of two dams built on the Elwha River, Washington, in the early 20th century will allow spawning salmon to access to pristine reaches of the river that lie within the Olympic National Park.

NOS scientist Kathy Moore uses calipers to measure sea turtle eggs.

NOAA nautical charts, such as this chart of Tampa Bay, Florida, are important tools to help mariners navigate safely at sea. A nautical chart is a graphical portrayal of the marine environment, showing the nature and form of the coast, the depths of the water, character and configuration of the sea bottom, locations of hazards and dangers, the rise and fall of the tides, ocean currents, magnetic variation, regulatory boundaries, and the locations of aids to navigation (e.g., lights, buoys, beacons and other important landmarks).

Kelp and sardines, Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Seventy acres of salt marsh were created in Lavaca Bay, Texas, as a result of a cooperative natural resource damages settlement with NOAA, co-trustees, and Alcoa, using the latest science from the NOAA Galveston Laboratory. As part of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, this new marsh adds to the foraging area of endangered whooping cranes.

NOAA Ships Fairweather and Rainier in Alaska. Both ships are designed and outfitted primarily for conducting hydrographic surveys in support of nautical charting, but are capable of many other missions in support of NOAA programs.

A sharknose goby (Elacatinus evelynae) propped up on brain coral in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With the assistance of the United States Embassy, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Water Resources, General Directorate for Surveying and Mapping in Iraq, for the first Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) to be installed by the Iraqi government. CORS is a permanently operating Global Positioning System (GPS) base station, which enables the determination of highly accurate GPS positions. The new Iraqi-installed CORS, part of the Iraqi Geospatial Reference System, will improve the quality, accuracy, and cost of airfield and boundary surveys and other precise positioning activities in Iraq. This CORS looks east over the city of Baghdad and is maintained and operated by the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources.

Marine protected areas, such as Elkhorn Slough in California, are an important tool for managing the nation's natural and cultural marine resources, and are a key component of an ecosystem approach to management.

These images represent three distinct visual sensing techniques. The top picture represents a true-color image, the middle an infrared image, and the bottom an elevation image. The images were taken in March 2008 over Hatteras Island, North Carolina.

A NOAA archaeologist photographs a wreck site in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary using specially a constructed sled mounted with a high-resolution camera.

Eyes of a queen conch (Strombus gigas) peaking out from under its shell in La Parguera, Puerto Rico.

Staff from NOAA's Office of Response & Restoration conduct a shoreline shoreline assessment in Dec. 2004, following the M/V Selendang Ayu oil spill.

Nonpoint source pollution, or polluted runoff, is the greatest threat to coastal waters in the United State. Through the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program, the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management works with states to take action to reduce and prevent polluted runoff, making our coastal waters cleaner for everyone to enjoy.

Staghorn coral, which is currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, observed in Carlos Rosaria Reef near Culebra, Puerto Rico.

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson in New York Harbor. The Thomas Jefferson is one of a fleet of research and survey vessels used by NOAA to improve our understanding of the marine environment. The ship is home ported in Norfolk, Virginia, and primarily operates along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The primary mission of the Thomas Jefferson is to conduct hydrographic surveys for updating NOAA's nautical charts.

The National Coastal Zone Management Program works with coastal states to conserve habitat in the nation's coastal zone, including estuaries, beaches, dunes, and wetlands such as the one pictured here.

NOAA Ship Fairweather in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. The Fairweather is designed and outfitted primarily for conducting hydrographic surveys in support of nautical charting, but the ship is capable of many other missions in support of NOAA programs. The Fairweather is equipped with the latest in hydrographic survey technology — multi-beam survey systems; high-speed, high-resolution side-scan sonar; position and orientation systems; hydrographic survey launches; and an on-board data-processing server. The Fairweather is named for Mt. Fairweather in southeast Alaska, which is the highest peak in the Fairweather Range -- the tallest coastal range on Earth.

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey employees level to a pier as part of a larger island-wide project to provide St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands with a vertical datum.

Separated from the rest of the island by high cliffs, the beach at Kanapou Bay, Hawaii, collects debris from throughout the Pacific. Kanapou Bay is located on the small island of Kaho'olawe offshore of Maui.

Using Geographic Information System tools, scientists and researchers can zoom into to an image like this to reveal fine details about the location, health, and variety of submerged aquatic vegetation in a given area. This image of Redfish Bay, Texas near Corpus Christi--part of the new Texas Coastal Bend map--shows seagrass (green), oyster reefs (pink), sand bottom (yellow), mangroves (magenta), and salt marsh (light blue).

Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services National Current Observation Program conducted several major surveys of tidal currents in response to user requests. Data has been collected in southeast Alaska since 2001 to help update tidal current predictions critical to safe navigation and other applications that are published annually in the U.S. Tidal Current Tables. Here, scientists deploy current meter buoys and anchors used for the surveys.

A breathtaking view of Anacapa Island, part of the Channel Island chain off the coast of California.

Divers from the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Eastern Carolina University photograph the German U-boat U-352. U-352 was surveyed off the coast of Morehead City, N.C., during the Battle of the Atlantic Expedition Summer 2008. The wreck site was surveyed using traditional archaeological mapping techniques coupled with video and photographic documentation. The site was discovered in the 1970s and has suffered the effects of storms, time, and looters. NOAA's objective during the survey was to map the site in detail and to assess its historical significance and archaeological integrity. NOAA divers used various technologies to document the sites, including employing underwater cameras and sonar to create a photo-mosaic of the wreck.

For decades, hazardous substances released through storm drains from area industries contaminated Commencement Bay and its waterways and sediments. In October 1991, NOAA and its co-trustees began a damage assessment and restoration planning process to restore injured resources such as wetlands and salmon habitat in this Washington State area.

This photo shows an aerial view of Waldenberg Park and skimmers following a massive oil spill in 2007. The Cosco Busan, a container ship, dumped 58,000 gallons of oil after striking the San Francisco Bay bridge in Calif. Oil streamers are a result from the lifting of the damaged barge.

Monthly grass shrimp population monitoring being conducted at a former Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site at Shipyard Creek, Charleston, South Carolina. Grass shrimp are used as a sentinel of salt-marsh ecosystem health.

A crane loads derelict fishing gear in the form of rope and line collected by local fishermen into a designated bin to be taken to a processing plant and turned into energy for homes in New England as part of the Fishing for Energy Project.

A biologist from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary uses a glue gun to reattach a piece of living coral broken lose when a boat went aground on the shallow coral reef.

An employee from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services installs an air gap sensor which measures bridge clearance on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York. The sensors take readings every six minutes to account for changes in water level, volume of traffic crossing the bridges, and air temperature, all of which cause bridge clearance to fluctuate. As ships become taller, some are passing under bridges with just inches to spare. This new capability is available through NOAA's Physical Oceanographic Real-time System, which provides quality-controlled oceanographic and weather data at U.S. seaports to aid navigation.

A Manta Ray passes over a reef, inviting a host of small fish to clean parasites and other debris off of the giant animal. Manta Rays are the largest rays in the ocean.

Scientists from the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research begin necropsy of two pygmy killer whales. Samples were collected from these two rarely seen animals for biotoxin analysis, contaminant analysis, and histopathology to determine the causes of death.

On June 2, 2008, hundreds of NOAA employees and partners participated in the 5th annual NOAA Restoration Day in two separate events — one in Maryland and the other in Virginia. This event has grown every year as NOAA employees in Maryland and Virginia work to restore habitat at two important sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services manages the National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON). NWLON provides basic water-level information to determine U.S. coastal marine boundaries and to create nautical charts. It also supports climate monitoring activities, tsunami and storm surge warning systems, coastal processes, and tectonic research. This NWLON station supports the Sabine-Neches, Texas, Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System.

A biologist from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary photographs the damage done to a coral reef from a boat that grounded on the reef. An elkhorn coral branch broken in the incident appears in the foreground.

The RV Sam Gray, a vessel operated by Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, assisting in the Battle of the Atlantic Expedition Summer 2008. NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, in collaboration with the National Park Service, Minerals Management Service, East Carolina University, the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute, and the State of North Carolina, conducted this archaeological expedition to survey ships sunk off the coast of North Carolina during World War II.

A sea lion poses for the camera in the waters off of California.

A scientist from the Minerals Management Service surveys the German U-boat U-701 during the Battle of the Atlantic Expedition Summer 2008 off the coast of North Carolina. The 2008 summer expedition was the first part of a larger multi-year project to research and document a number of historically significant shipwrecks tragically lost during WWII. The project is dedicated to raising awareness of the war that was fought so close to the American coastline and to preserving our nation's maritime history.

A scientist from the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) conducts a bottlenose dolphin necropsy demonstration for Coastal Carolina University (Conway, South Carolina) students. CCEHBR has provided necropsy demonstrations to the Coastal Carolina University Marine Mammal class since 1996 to provide students information on anatomy and the causes of natural and human-induced mortality.

A Global Positioning System setup on a benchmark on the top of the NOAA Sentinel at Shell Beach, Louisiana. NOAA Sentinels are water-level observing stations which have been strengthened to deliver real-time storm tide data during severe coastal events. Built to withstand category four hurricanes, these structures maintain an incredible presence, given their size and stature, along the Gulf coast.

A scientist from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary participates in a site visit to the 1887 shipwreck Slobodna in the Upper Region of the Sanctuary.

At the request of Congress, the Office of Response and Restoration investigated environmental contaminants in and around the National Reserve Fleet (NRF) in Suisun Bay, California. The request was an attempt to circumvent a political stalemate between the United States Maritime Administration and the State of California concerning the ultimate disposition of ships in the NRF. Potential environmental concerns include heavy metals and antifouling agents in paint that is peeling off of the vessels, as well as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and other hazardous materials that may have been released. In fiscal year 2008, NOAA evaluated existing data from the area to determine gaps and developed a data collection strategy.

An employee from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services installs an air gap sensor which measures bridge clearance on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York. The sensor is part of the New York/New Jersey Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System. Information from the sensor is critical for under-bridge clearance, as ships continue to maximize channel depths and widths while, at the same time, push the bounds of bridge heights.

Humpback whales in the singing position.

The Hi'ialakai is one of seven former Navy T-AGOS class ships transferred to NOAA. T-AGOS ships are monohull ocean surveillance ships originally designed to gather underwater acoustical data. Hi'ialakai was converted to conduct coral reef and related research in the Hawaiian Islands, primarily in support of NOAA's National Ocean Service.

A hurricane-hardened 'NOAA Sentinel' water level observing station.

Scientists at the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research in Charleston, South Carolina, draw up a water sample for chemical analysis. The sample is being drawn from a simulated salt-marsh ecosystem that has been exposed to an herbicide to study its fate and effects in a coastal environment.

A sea turtle swimming off of the Hawaiian islands.

Sponges and corals in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of Mexico.