The sanctuary system has reached its one millionth volunteer hour in 2012. Volunteers play a critical role in the sanctuary system by contributing time, skills, and dedication to helping sanctuaries. Volunteers have cleaned up over 80,000 pounds of trash off our nation's beaches, interacted with more than one million visitors at outreach events, and have provided over $15,000,000 of in-kind support. Volunteers are found in all sanctuaries, and numbers have been growing since the inception of our volunteer programs in the mid 1990's.

For example, the Florida Keys Team OCEAN volunteers are stationed on sanctuary vessels at heavily visited reef sites throughout the Keys during peak recreational boating seasons and heavy-traffic holiday weekends. Volunteers inform the public about the sanctuary, encourage proper use of sanctuary resources, and provide tips on how to practice basic water safety. Jointly coordinated by Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park, over 140 volunteers are trained to educate passengers on whale watch tours and island hikes, engage over 300,000 people annually at community events, and conduct valuable citizen science monitoring projects.