The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) consist of small islands, atolls, submerged banks, and reefs, which stretch for more than 2,000 km northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. On June 15, 2006, the President of the United States designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) a national monument, enabling nearly 140,000 square miles of the NWHI to receive our Nation's highest form of marine environmental protection. The coral reefs of the NWHI may be the healthiest and most undisturbed of the United States reefs, and unlike most other present-day coral reefs, they comprise possibly the last, large-scale, apex predator-dominated coral reef ecosystem on Earth. The NWHI coral reefs and associated habitats harbor more than 7,000 species, many of which are rare, threatened, or endangered; many are endemic, found nowhere else on Earth. Many more remain unidentified or even undiscovered to science.
Hawaii's Coral Reef Management Priorities
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Dynamics of debris densities and removal at Northwestern Hawaiian Islands coral reefs
U.S. Western Pacific Fisheries – Past to Present
Report on the Status of Marine Protected Areas in Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States. Volume 1: Marine Protected Areas Managed by U.S. States,Territories, and Commonwealths. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP 2 February 2007
The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2008.
The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005.
The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002.
Hawaii Local Action Strategy Factsheet
FLASH Strategic Plan: Fisheries Local Action Strategy in Hawai'i (FLASH)
Search the CoRIS Geoportal for Northwestern Hawaiian Islands metadata, data and publications.
You may also choose to enter the name of any individual island, shoal, atoll, submerged bank, etc., in the CoRIS Geoportal search box and press the "Search" button.
ReefBase Coral Bleaching Reports
Select "U.S. Pacific Islands" in the region window and "Hawaiian Islands (USA)" in the Country window.
Coral Reef Watch Satellite Monitoring
Coral Reef Watch - Hawaiian Islands Virtual Stations
The Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Program
NOAA/National Weather Service - Data from Hawaii
NOAA Tidal Predictions
Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center - Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Data
Shallow-water Benthic Habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Hawaii Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Atlas
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Data Archived in NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center
Shallow and Deep-water CTD observations
Documented sightings of C. riisei and H. musciformis in NWHI and nearby islands (2010)
Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology -Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Research Partnership
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Multi Agency Education Project
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument - Education and Outreach
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument - Maps, Images, and Videos
Papahānaumokuākea Site brochure
Papahānaumokuākea World Heritage brochure
President sets aside largest marine conservation area on Earth
(June 15 2006)
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve
(The Encyclopedia of Earth)
Marine Protected Areas of the United States Home Page
The Marine Protected Areas Inventory
Marine Federal Areas Fact Sheet
Executive order 13158: Marine Protected Areas
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Lobster Closed Areas
Lobster Closed Season - Permit Area 1
Lobster Closed Season - Permit Area 2
Longline Protected Species Zone
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
WestPac Bed