celebrating 50 years

Let's Celebrate 50 Years of Ocean Conservation and Stewardship

Fifty years ago, a new era of ocean conservation was born by creating a system of national marine sanctuaries. Since then, the National Marine Sanctuary System has grown into a nationwide network of 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments that conserve more than 620,000 square miles of spectacular ocean and Great Lakes waters, an area nearly the size of Alaska.

Each national marine sanctuary and marine national monument has its own unique history and purpose. These underwater parks were set aside for both protection and enjoyment, now and in the future—and decisions about how to best manage each of these special places continue to be made using the best available scientific data, as well as extensive public input.

We believe that water is a thread that connects us all. National marine sanctuaries and monuments support coastal communities and drive local economies by providing jobs and opportunities for people to discover, recreate, and form lifelong connections with these spectacular places. The successes throughout the National Marine Sanctuary System show that conservation, economic prosperity, and human well being not only go well together, but they are deeply woven together in our national character.

The National Marine Sanctuary System turns 50 on October 23, 2022. Please join us throughout the next year as we celebrate the history, accomplishments, and beauty of these incredible underwater parks across the United States!

From the Director

Welcome to the 50th Anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuary System! Starting from modest beginnings, this "good idea" has grown into a vibrant network of 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments that protect some of our nation's most treasured seascapes, wildlife, and maritime heritage resources. Sanctuaries and monuments work with and connect to other networks of marine protected areas throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Read the Director's message
Director John Armor
people wlak on a beach

National Marine Sanctuaries 50th Anniversary Events

Public events and activities celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuary System or site anniversaries

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Discover Spectacular Educational Materials

Check out our educational materials that bring the ocean and Great Lakes into your classroom, home, facility, or wherever you learn best.

Educational Materials

A Journey Through Time

This timeline provides highlights of the last 50+ years of national marine sanctuaries.

National Marine Sanctuary System Timeline

Over fifty years ago, the U.S. ushered in a new era of ocean conservation by creating the National Marine Sanctuary System. Since then, we’ve grown into a nationwide network of 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments that conserve more than 620,000 square miles of spectacular ocean and Great Lakes waters, an area nearly the size of Alaska. Sanctuaries connect people and communities through science, education, and stewardship.

1960

The 1960s: Origin

Though the roots of underwater parks lie far back into antiquity, modern scholars and practitioners began to seriously explore the need for and nature of managing underwater parks in the late 1950s. The Underwater Guide to Marine Life, written by Carleton Ray and Elgin Ciampi in 1956, called for underwater parks. Aquatic specialists in the National Park Service prepared guidance and advised their leaders about the difference in managing lakeshores, seashores, and marine habitats from managing the deserts, forests, mountains, and fields of terrestrial parks. The possibilities of new technologies like scuba diving, submersibles, and underwater communication devices generated excitement among park staff about sharing the wonders under the sea with those who lived above it.

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1966

President Lyndon B. Johnson's Science Advisory Committee calls for a system of marine wilderness preserves in their 1966 Effective Use of the Sea.

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1968

The first marine sanctuary bills (about a dozen by 1971) introduced in House were to order Department of the Interior to study the possibility of creating a system of marine sanctuaries and to create ocean places along the California coast to ban oil production.

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1969

The Stratton Commission's Panel on Management and Development of the Coastal Zone recommends to the commission that: "Marine sanctuaries or preserves should be established to protect and manage endangered areas identified by National and State surveys and for ecological baseline studies."

1970

The 1970s: Foundation

On the morning of January 28, 1969, workers drilling a new well on Union Oil’s Platform A had a blowout that resulted in about three million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Santa Barbara channel, blackening popular beaches and killing thousands of seabirds and countless other fish and marine mammals. In the public outrage that followed, the nation’s leaders had new incentive to move forward on the marine sanctuary bills. Like other important conservation laws, the passage of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuary Act involved years of debate and legislative evolution. In 1971 and 1972, after important committee hearings on ocean dumping, more bills in both the Senate and House wended their way to conference in 1972, where a compromise restored the marine sanctuary provision deleted from the Senate bill.

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1970

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, the parent agency of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, is created.

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1972

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuary Act passes with Title III creating the National Marine Sanctuary Program.

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1973

USS Monitor wreck is discovered by scientists from Duke University, MIT, and the state of North Carolina.

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1974

The first National Marine Sanctuary Program regulations are published.

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1975

Monitor and Key Largo national marine sanctuaries are designated.

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1977

The National Marine Sanctuary Program launches its long prestigious history of research expeditions when Monitor National Marine Sanctuary conducts the first ever research expedition to the wreck. In the same year, Cordell Expeditions begins its explorations of Cordell Bank, which will lead to the designation of the sanctuary in 1989.

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1979

President Carter directs NOAA to produce a pool of sites for future sanctuary consideration. The List of Recommendation Areas, the pool of 68 sites for future consideration, is announced as a result. The LRA is based on nominations made by states, agencies, and other outside parties.

1980

The 1980s: Stability

President Jimmy Carter, in his Environmental Message to Congress in 1977, included marine sanctuaries in his address: "Existing legislation allows the Secretary of Commerce to protect certain estuarine and ocean resources from the ill-effects of development by designating marine sanctuaries. Yet only two sanctuaries have been established since 1972, when the program began. I am, therefore, instructing the Secretary of Commerce to identify possible sanctuaries in areas where development appears imminent, and to begin collecting the data necessary to designate them as such under the law." In late 1979, in response to the President's directive, NOAA announced the List of Recommended Areas, a pool of 68 sites for future consideration as sanctuaries. But the Site Evaluation List, and its accompanying Program Development Plan outlining the long-term future of the program, replaced it in 1983 and would serve the program until the 1990s.

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1980

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is designated.

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1981

Looe Key (now part of Florida Keys), Point Reyes-Farallones Islands (now Greater Farallones), and Gray’s Reef national marine sanctuaries are designated. The first mooring buoys ever installed to protect a reef are installed on French Reef in Key Largo. Thunder Bay is made an Underwater Preserve by the state of Michigan.

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1982

The National Marine Sanctuary Program Program Development Plan lays out the mission and goals including calling for the Site Evaluation List. The first assessment of fish and benthic communities of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary is conducted.

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1983

The first zoning in the National Marine Sanctuary Program is implemented in Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. The List of Recommended Areas is repealed and replaced with the Site Evaluation List; the SEL is based on the recommendations of regional teams of scientists.

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1984

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuary Act is reauthorized, adding new detailed guidance for designation and requiring that NOAA should conduct research and education programs.

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1986

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The wreck of USS Monitor is added to the National Historic Register, the first underwater site on it. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary launches a three-year effort to study humpback whales and harbors seals in the sanctuary.

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1987

The Mariner's Museum is selected to receive and conserve artifacts from the Monitor. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary pioneers Los Marineros, a multidisciplinary marine education program for 5th graders. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary prepares its Marine Mammal Field Guide to the Gulf of the Farallones.

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1988

The Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized, creating special use permit program, response and restoration authorities, and enforcement authorities. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary publishes its first illustrated field and laboratory guide to seaweeds. The first long-term monitoring program is established in East and West Flower Garden Banks.

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1989

Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The first annual aerial survey of canopy kelp in what will become Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is completed. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary produces illustrated guides to fishes and to offshore recreation.

1990

The 1990s: Growth

In late 1989, in just over a two-week period, the vessels Elpis, Alec Owen Maitland, and Mavro Vetranic ran aground in the Florida Keys. Together, the three groundings destroyed hundreds of acres of coral. Prompted by the widespread destruction and public outcry, by the end of 1990, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary had been designated by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act, subsuming the older and smaller Key Largo and Looe Key national marine sanctuaries. The system also grappled with some of the most complex and controversial designation processes it had ever faced, which when completed, represented the greatest surge of growth yet seen in the program. Stellwagen Bank, Flower Garden Banks, Monterey Bay, and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale national marine sanctuaries all were established in 1992, followed by Olympic Coast in 1994.

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1990

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is established, the first sanctuary designation done by an act of Congress. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary establishes the first sanctuary advisory council in the system and the first Water Quality Protection Program. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa launches its first Marine Science Summer Camp. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary divers witness the mass release of coral spawning for the first time.

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1991

An assessment of the National Marine Sanctuary Program conducted by G. Carleton Ray recommends, among other things, that it should adopt large regional zoning models, expand the constituency of the program, and elevate research and education programs.

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1992

Stellwagen Bank, Flower Garden Banks, Monterey Bay, and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale national marine sanctuaries are designated. Title III of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized as the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and adds federal agency consultation provision, new policies and purposes, and authority for sanctuary advisory councils.

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1993

An External Review Team report (i.e., the Potter Report) recommends that the National Marine Sanctuary Program undertake an aggressive effort to communicate and cooperate with other agencies, groups, and organizations. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary establishes Beach Watch, the first volunteer program in the sanctuary system and one of the first modern volunteer programs in NOAA. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary initiates the first ever Great American Fish Count.

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1994

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is designated. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary launches its Water Quality Protection Program.

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1995

The National Marine Sanctuary Program adopts its whale tail logo, as part of its now iconic branding program. Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association is established, the first friends group in the system. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary records the first birth of a northern fur seal in the islands in over 170 years. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary initiates its Ocean Count citizen science volunteer program. Marine debris removal efforts begin in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

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1996

The Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized, adding a number of revenue enhancement authorities to the act. Stetson Bank is legislatively added to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which also initiates its signature Down Under, Out Yonder education program.

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1998

The National Marine Sanctuary Program and National Geographic launch the Sustainable Seas Expeditions. 9.9 million readers learn of the sanctuary system through an article in National Geographic and National Public Radio takes a million and half listeners on a radio expedition to sanctuaries.

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1999

The LiMPETS student volunteer program is established. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary initiates its popular, Savannah-based Ocean Fest.

2000

The 2000s: System

With the growth both in number of sites and area during the 1990s, the reauthorization of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act in 2000 gave voice to the identity that the program had been feeling out internally for some time, that of a system. Becoming a system required that the agency take a more strategic approach to plan for its future needs and growth, and undergo a deliberate effort to develop its system identity. A reorganization in 2006 created a new Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. New sites added to the system during this decade were Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (which would eventually become Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument), and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument (which would be encompassed by an expanded sanctuary in American Samoa in 2012). Monterey Bay, Channel Islands, Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, American Samoa, and Thunder Bay national marine sanctuaries were all expanded during the 2000s.

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2000

The National Marine Sancuaries Act is reauthorized, requiring that all sanctuaries be collectively managed as a coherent system. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is designated and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve is created. The National Marine Protected Areas Center is created by Executive Order. The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is established. The sanctuary system launches its first website and its first newsletter, Sanctuary Watch. The National Academy of Public Administration conducts an external review which finds the sanctuary system is fundamentally well conceived and is beginning to demonstrate notable successes. The sanctuary system establishes the Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series for peer-reviewed research reports. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary opens the Shipwreck Trail and dedicates the Eco-Discoery Center in Key West. Two new volunteer programs are launched: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Snapshot Day volunteer monitoring program and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary's Naturalist Onboard program. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary sponsors the first ever International Marine Debris Conference.

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2001

The sanctuary system and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation launch the first Capitol Hill Ocean Week. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary creates the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, the largest fully-protected marine reserve in the United States at the time. Monitor National Marine Sanctuary recovers the engine in partnership with the US Navy. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary supports the first modern crossing by a Chumash tomol to the islands. Three signature outreach efforts are started: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's MERITO outreach program, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Maritime Festival, and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary's Ocean Discovery Day.

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2002

The sanctuary system establishes its Maritime Heritage program. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is made a Particulary Sensitive Sea Area, the first in the United States. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary establishes its whale disentanglement program. Monitor National Marine Sanctuary recovers the turret and other artifacts in partnership with the US Navy. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary founds the Naturalist Corps in partnership with Channel Islands National Park. The MPA Center launches its newsletter, MPA Connections.

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2003

The National MPA Center establishes its Federal Advisory Committee, creates a formal definition of a marine protected area for the U.S. government, and completes a classification system. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary successfully disentangles a whale for the first time. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary develops protocols for rescuing and transplanting corals from construction sites.

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2006

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument is established by Presidential Proclamation.

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2007

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument becomes Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch the Dolphin SMART Program. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa releases its condition report, the first in the system to do so. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary establishes the Intergovernmental Policy Council, whose members include the four coastal treaty tribes and the state of Washington.

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2008

The sanctuary system introduces Sanctuary Sam, the system's new mascot. The sanctuary system founds the Ocean Guardian School program, patterned after the Reef Guardian School Program of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Department of Commerce Office of the Inspector General examines the program and finds The sanctuary system is generally making progress towards long-term protection of marine ecosystems and cultural resources. The National MPA Center completes the national framework for the MPA system. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to add Davidson Seamount. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa are added to the U.S. Tentative List for possible World Heritage nomination.

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2009

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument is declared. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary co-hosts the first International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary debuts its Blue Star Diver program. Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch the Whale SENSE Program. Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary conducts an oral history project to capture the history of Cordell Expeditions and its role in protecting the bank.

2010

The 2010s: Community

As the 2000s closed and its 40th anniversary approached, the sanctuary system had accepted and invested in its identity as a coordinated system of underwater parks. With the intent to start resuming new designations and the addition of new communities through expansions in existing national marine sanctuaries, the system also assumed what may be its most important role yet, as a member of local, national, and international communities. The maturing view of sanctuaries as members of their gateway communities led to increasing investments in programs and partnerships at the local level: empowerment of sanctuary advisory councils, establishment of citizen science and other volunteer programs, creation of programs to reach more diverse audiences, renewed dedication to working with Indigenous communities, and recognition programs for local businesses. The Sanctuary Nomination Process was established in 2014, allowing communities, for the first time in decades, to nominate their waters as potential national marine sanctuaries.

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2010

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is inscribed as a World Heritage Site.

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2011

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary creates a Research Area in the southern third of the sanctuary. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary's Channel Islands Naturalist Corps receives the Take Pride in America Outstanding Federal Volunteer Program Award.

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2012

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to become National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. The expansion enlarges the site from the smallest to the largest national marine sanctuary in the system and encompasses Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. ONMS co-hosts the First Nations Climate Summit at the National Museum of the American Indian.

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2013

The sanctuary system completes its first ever National Marine Sanctuary System Condition Report. The sanctuary system forms its Business Advisory Council, the first national level sanctuary advisory council. Two sailors found when the turret was recovered from the Monitor are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

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2014

The community-driven Sanctuary Nomination Process is launched, replacing the defunct Site Evaluation List. The National MPA Center is formally integrated with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and launches an online cultural resources toolkit for MPA managers. A number of signature events for the sanctuary system are launched: Get Into Your Sanctuary Day, the Earth is Blue social media campaign, and an MPA blog (in partnership with Open Channels). Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to ten times its original size to include waters along Alcona and Presque Isle counties. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument expands and reopens Mokupapapa Discovery Center in a new location.

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2015

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary are both expanded. The MPA Center Federal Advisory Committee and the system of sanctuary advisory councils together, for the first time, issue a "Call to Action" for action in recreation and tourism use of MPAs, including inviting people to play in MPAs, embracing the human dimension of ocean places, sustaining ecosystems and values, and engaging recreational users as ocean stewards.

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2016

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is expanded to approximately 600,000 square miles via a Presidential Proclamation. The sanctuary system issues its first Volunteer Program Handbook. Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary opens the Ocean Exploration Center at the Point Reyes Lighthouse. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa leads the Festival of Sites Village to Visitor program to welcome passengers from cruise ships.

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2019

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The sanctuary system completes the development of guidelines to develop sponsorship and licensing agreements. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch Mission: Iconic Reefs to do long-term, large-scale reef restoration at important reef areas. In Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Chumash community representatives develop an assessment of the sanctuary's ecosystem with a focus on Chumash perspectives and place-based values connected to their sacred homeland islands and surrounding ocean waters. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa hosts its first Fautasi Heritage Symposium.

2020

The 2020s: Future

As the sanctuary system enters the 2020s and approaches its 50th anniversary, it is keenly aware of the profound issues facing its sites and the ocean: climate change impacts, a mass extinction event, habitat losses, and pollution, among others. The sanctuary system of the preceding decades, even of the 2010s, cannot be the sanctuary system of the future, and steps must be taken to prepare ourselves, our communities, and our partners to be an effective force for conservation in the coming decades. We hope to add new areas to the system, starting with the proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary as it completes its designation and others that are starting their designation processes. A new five-year strategic plan and twenty-year long term vision will be released in 2022.

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2020

NOAA turns 50. The sanctuary system launches its online platform for virtual diving, Sanctuaries 360. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute publish a guidebook on transplanting deepsea corals. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary opens a visitor center, Kauai Ocean Discovery, on Maui.

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2021

Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is designated. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary expands to include an additional fourteen banks, tripling in size. The National Academy of Public Administration conducts an external review of the sanctuary system (its third) that finds the system has successfully advanced its mission and vision.

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2022

50th Anniversary of the sanctuary system! We can't wait to see what the year brings!

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2022

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries stamp series released as part of 50th anniversary in 2022

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2024

Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is designated as America's 16th national marine sanctuary and the third in the Great Lakes. The area encompasses 1,300 square nautical miles (1,722 square miles) of eastern Lake Ontario waters and bottomlands adjacent to Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga, and Wayne counties in the state of New York.

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2024

Designated in 2024, Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is America’s 17th national marine sanctuary, the sixth off the U.S. West Coast, and one of the largest in the National Marine Sanctuary System.

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2025

NOAA announces its decision to designate Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary, a 582,570 square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean that is two times the size of Texas. The sanctuary is within the existing Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and provides additional protections and management tools to strengthen conservation of the marine areas of the monument.

 
The 1960s: Origin
1960

The 1960s: Origin

President Lyndon B. Johnson's Science Advisory Committee calls for a system of marine wilderness preserves in their 1966 Effective Use of the Sea.

The first marine sanctuary bills (about a dozen by 1971) introduced in House were to order Department of the Interior to study the possibility of creating a system of marine sanctuaries and to create ocean places along the California coast to ban oil production.

The Stratton Commission's Panel on Management and Development of the Coastal Zone recommends to the commission that: "Marine sanctuaries or preserves should be established to protect and manage endangered areas identified by National and State surveys and for ecological baseline studies."

The 1970s: Foundation

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, the parent agency of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, is created.

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuary Act passes with Title III creating the National Marine Sanctuary Program.

USS Monitor wreck is discovered by scientists from Duke University, MIT, and the state of North Carolina.

The first National Marine Sanctuary Program regulations are published.

Monitor and Key Largo national marine sanctuaries are designated.

The National Marine Sanctuary Program launches its long prestigious history of research expeditions when Monitor National Marine Sanctuary conducts the first ever research expedition to the wreck. In the same year, Cordell Expeditions begins its explorations of Cordell Bank, which will lead to the designation of the sanctuary in 1989.

President Carter directs NOAA to produce a pool of sites for future sanctuary consideration. The List of Recommendation Areas, the pool of 68 sites for future consideration, is announced as a result. The LRA is based on nominations made by states, agencies, and other outside parties.

The 1980s: Stability

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is designated.

Looe Key (now part of Florida Keys), Point Reyes-Farallones Islands (now Greater Farallones), and Gray’s Reef national marine sanctuaries are designated. The first mooring buoys ever installed to protect a reef are installed on French Reef in Key Largo. Thunder Bay is made an Underwater Preserve by the state of Michigan.

The National Marine Sanctuary Program Program Development Plan lays out the mission and goals including calling for the Site Evaluation List. The first assessment of fish and benthic communities of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary is conducted.

The first zoning in the National Marine Sanctuary Program is implemented in Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. The List of Recommended Areas is repealed and replaced with the Site Evaluation List; the SEL is based on the recommendations of regional teams of scientists.

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuary Act is reauthorized, adding new detailed guidance for designation and requiring that NOAA should conduct research and education programs.

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The wreck of USS Monitor is added to the National Historic Register, the first underwater site on it. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary launches a three-year effort to study humpback whales and harbors seals in the sanctuary.

The Mariner's Museum is selected to receive and conserve artifacts from the Monitor. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary pioneers Los Marineros, a multidisciplinary marine education program for 5th graders. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary prepares its Marine Mammal Field Guide to the Gulf of the Farallones.

The Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized, creating special use permit program, response and restoration authorities, and enforcement authorities. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary publishes its first illustrated field and laboratory guide to seaweeds. The first long-term monitoring program is established in East and West Flower Garden Banks.

Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The first annual aerial survey of canopy kelp in what will become Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is completed. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary produces illustrated guides to fishes and to offshore recreation.

The 1990s: Growth

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is established, the first sanctuary designation done by an act of Congress. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary establishes the first sanctuary advisory council in the system and the first Water Quality Protection Program. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa launches its first Marine Science Summer Camp. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary divers witness the mass release of coral spawning for the first time.

An assessment of the National Marine Sanctuary Program conducted by G. Carleton Ray recommends, among other things, that it should adopt large regional zoning models, expand the constituency of the program, and elevate research and education programs.

Stellwagen Bank, Flower Garden Banks, Monterey Bay, and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale national marine sanctuaries are designated. Title III of the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized as the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and adds federal agency consultation provision, new policies and purposes, and authority for sanctuary advisory councils.

An External Review Team report (i.e., the Potter Report) recommends that the National Marine Sanctuary Program undertake an aggressive effort to communicate and cooperate with other agencies, groups, and organizations. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary establishes Beach Watch, the first volunteer program in the sanctuary system and one of the first modern volunteer programs in NOAA. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary initiates the first ever Great American Fish Count.

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is designated. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary launches its Water Quality Protection Program.

The National Marine Sanctuary Program adopts its whale tail logo, as part of its now iconic branding program. Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association is established, the first friends group in the system. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary records the first birth of a northern fur seal in the islands in over 170 years. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary initiates its Ocean Count citizen science volunteer program. Marine debris removal efforts begin in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act is reauthorized, adding a number of revenue enhancement authorities to the act. Stetson Bank is legislatively added to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which also initiates its signature Down Under, Out Yonder education program.

The National Marine Sanctuary Program and National Geographic launch the Sustainable Seas Expeditions. 9.9 million readers learn of the sanctuary system through an article in National Geographic and National Public Radio takes a million and half listeners on a radio expedition to sanctuaries.

The LiMPETS student volunteer program is established. Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary initiates its popular, Savannah-based Ocean Fest.

The 2000s: System

The National Marine Sancuaries Act is reauthorized, requiring that all sanctuaries be collectively managed as a coherent system. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is designated and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve is created. The National Marine Protected Areas Center is created by Executive Order. The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is established. The sanctuary system launches its first website and its first newsletter, Sanctuary Watch. The National Academy of Public Administration conducts an external review which finds the sanctuary system is fundamentally well conceived and is beginning to demonstrate notable successes. The sanctuary system establishes the Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series for peer-reviewed research reports. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary opens the Shipwreck Trail and dedicates the Eco-Discoery Center in Key West. Two new volunteer programs are launched: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Snapshot Day volunteer monitoring program and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary's Naturalist Onboard program. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary sponsors the first ever International Marine Debris Conference.

The sanctuary system and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation launch the first Capitol Hill Ocean Week. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary creates the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, the largest fully-protected marine reserve in the United States at the time. Monitor National Marine Sanctuary recovers the engine in partnership with the US Navy. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary supports the first modern crossing by a Chumash tomol to the islands. Three signature outreach efforts are started: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's MERITO outreach program, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Maritime Festival, and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary's Ocean Discovery Day.

The sanctuary system establishes its Maritime Heritage program. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is made a Particulary Sensitive Sea Area, the first in the United States. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary establishes its whale disentanglement program. Monitor National Marine Sanctuary recovers the turret and other artifacts in partnership with the US Navy. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary founds the Naturalist Corps in partnership with Channel Islands National Park. The MPA Center launches its newsletter, MPA Connections.

The National MPA Center establishes its Federal Advisory Committee, creates a formal definition of a marine protected area for the U.S. government, and completes a classification system. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary successfully disentangles a whale for the first time. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary develops protocols for rescuing and transplanting corals from construction sites.

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument is established by Presidential Proclamation.

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument becomes Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch the Dolphin SMART Program. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa releases its condition report, the first in the system to do so. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary establishes the Intergovernmental Policy Council, whose members include the four coastal treaty tribes and the state of Washington.

The sanctuary system introduces Sanctuary Sam, the system's new mascot. The sanctuary system founds the Ocean Guardian School program, patterned after the Reef Guardian School Program of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Department of Commerce Office of the Inspector General examines the program and finds The sanctuary system is generally making progress towards long-term protection of marine ecosystems and cultural resources. The National MPA Center completes the national framework for the MPA system. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to add Davidson Seamount. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa are added to the U.S. Tentative List for possible World Heritage nomination.

Rose Atoll Marine National Monument is declared. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary co-hosts the first International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary debuts its Blue Star Diver program. Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch the Whale SENSE Program. Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary conducts an oral history project to capture the history of Cordell Expeditions and its role in protecting the bank.

The 2010s: Community

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is inscribed as a World Heritage Site.

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary creates a Research Area in the southern third of the sanctuary. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary's Channel Islands Naturalist Corps receives the Take Pride in America Outstanding Federal Volunteer Program Award.

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to become National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. The expansion enlarges the site from the smallest to the largest national marine sanctuary in the system and encompasses Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. ONMS co-hosts the First Nations Climate Summit at the National Museum of the American Indian.

The sanctuary system completes its first ever National Marine Sanctuary System Condition Report. The sanctuary system forms its Business Advisory Council, the first national level sanctuary advisory council. Two sailors found when the turret was recovered from the Monitor are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

The community-driven Sanctuary Nomination Process is launched, replacing the defunct Site Evaluation List. The National MPA Center is formally integrated with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and launches an online cultural resources toolkit for MPA managers. A number of signature events for the sanctuary system are launched: Get Into Your Sanctuary Day, the Earth is Blue social media campaign, and an MPA blog (in partnership with Open Channels). Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary expands to ten times its original size to include waters along Alcona and Presque Isle counties. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument expands and reopens Mokupapapa Discovery Center in a new location.

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary are both expanded. The MPA Center Federal Advisory Committee and the system of sanctuary advisory councils together, for the first time, issue a "Call to Action" for action in recreation and tourism use of MPAs, including inviting people to play in MPAs, embracing the human dimension of ocean places, sustaining ecosystems and values, and engaging recreational users as ocean stewards.

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is expanded to approximately 600,000 square miles via a Presidential Proclamation. The sanctuary system issues its first Volunteer Program Handbook. Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary opens the Ocean Exploration Center at the Point Reyes Lighthouse. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa leads the Festival of Sites Village to Visitor program to welcome passengers from cruise ships.

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary is designated. The sanctuary system completes the development of guidelines to develop sponsorship and licensing agreements. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and partners launch Mission: Iconic Reefs to do long-term, large-scale reef restoration at important reef areas. In Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Chumash community representatives develop an assessment of the sanctuary's ecosystem with a focus on Chumash perspectives and place-based values connected to their sacred homeland islands and surrounding ocean waters. National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa hosts its first Fautasi Heritage Symposium.

The 2020s: Future

NOAA turns 50. The sanctuary system launches its online platform for virtual diving, Sanctuaries 360. Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute publish a guidebook on transplanting deepsea corals. Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary opens a visitor center, Kauai Ocean Discovery, on Maui.

Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary is designated. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary expands to include an additional fourteen banks, tripling in size. The National Academy of Public Administration conducts an external review of the sanctuary system (its third) that finds the system has successfully advanced its mission and vision.

50th Anniversary of the sanctuary system! We can't wait to see what the year brings!

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries stamp series released as part of 50th anniversary in 2022

Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is designated as America's 16th national marine sanctuary and the third in the Great Lakes. The area encompasses 1,300 square nautical miles (1,722 square miles) of eastern Lake Ontario waters and bottomlands adjacent to Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga, and Wayne counties in the state of New York.

Designated in 2024, Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is America’s 17th national marine sanctuary, the sixth off the U.S. West Coast, and one of the largest in the National Marine Sanctuary System.

NOAA announces its decision to designate Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary, a 582,570 square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean that is two times the size of Texas. The sanctuary is within the existing Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and provides additional protections and management tools to strengthen conservation of the marine areas of the monument.

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National Marine Sanctuary System Posters

As part of the 50th anniversary, a commemorative poster series was launched to capture the beauty and diversity of your National Marine Sanctuary System. The following six posters were released during our anniversary.

Save Spectacular

During the campaign, we will follow five focused themes highlighting various aspects of the national marine sanctuary system.

fish swimming among a coral reef

Celebrate Spectacular

From this October through December, we'll kick-off our 50th celebration and emphasize the history and accomplishments of the sanctuary system over the last 50 years.

kids watching a whale breach from a boat

Discover Spectacular

From January to March we'll start the new year with a focus on the diversity of education and outreach programs developed and delivered by sanctuaries and our partners throughout the system.

Fisher releasing a tarpon in the waterr

Explore Spectacular

From April to June we'll dive into our sanctuaries and focus on how exploration and research help us understand and manage threats to sanctuary resources.

two surfer walking on the beach with their surf boards

Enjoy Spectacular

From July to September, we’ll embark on our "Get Into Your Sanctuary" campaign throughout the sanctuary system by promoting responsible recreation, tourism and stewardship, and explore the various ways in which people build personal connections to these special places.

risso dolphin leaping out of the water

Save Spectacular

From October to December we’ll conclude the 50th celebration by inviting people to share why sanctuaries are special places and should be conserved for future generations, celebrating our 50th anniversary in late October 2022, and launching a new strategic vision for the system.

Web Stories and Signature Series Articles

How has America's connection to maritime places changed over the years? How have past presidents shaped the protection of special ocean places? What are some of the most exciting discoveries in your national marine sanctuaries? Each month, check back for new articles that delve into these topics, and more!

two birds standing on two green sea turtles

Media Resources

We welcome news media outlets and ocean-loving individuals/social media influencers to get involved. See our resources for press and social media below. Contact vernon.smith@noaa.gov for all media and influencer inquiries.

Media Resources