Proposed Designation of Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is considering designating a new national marine sanctuary in Lake Erie, adjacent to Pennsylvania, and the public is invited to participate in the first step of the process. Erie County, Pennsylvania submitted a nomination in 2015, and NOAA is now considering sanctuary designation to protect the region's maritime heritage resources, including a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks.
The images and videos below can be downloaded in high resolution and may be freely used for press purposes.
![Map showing boundary of the proposed Lake Erie Quadrangle national marine sanctuary.](/media/lake-erie/2023-proposed-lake-erie-quadrangle-national-marine-sanctuary-1000.jpg)
Area proposed for Lake Erie Quadrangle National Marine Sanctuary
Map: NOAA
![the u.s. brig niagara in transit with it's sails open](/media/lake-erie/niagara-1000.jpg)
The U.S. Brig Niagara, home-ported in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry's relief flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie.
Credit: VisitErie
![aerial of the pennsylvania shore line; the u.s. brig niagara is dock next to the bicentenial tower](/media/lake-erie/bicentenial-tower-and-niagara-gibbens-1000.jpg)
The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower in Erie, Pennsylvania that features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie.
Credit: VisitErie
![philip d. armour at sea](/media/lake-erie/philip-armour-1-1000.jpg)
Built in 1889, the Philip D. Armour foundered in a gale while being towed on Nov. 13, 1915, northwest of Presque Isle Light, Lake Erie. Enroute from Ashtabula, Ohio, to Welland, Ontario, with a cargo of coal, the wooden barge and former steamer drifted onto a shoal and sank.
Credit: Kenneth Thro Collection at University of Wisconsin-Superior (Thunder Bay Research Collection)
![alt](/media/lake-erie/oxford-divers-dsc8876-1000.jpg)
The two-masted brig, Oxford, sank after colliding with the steamer Cataract and now lies in 160 feet of water within Lake Erie.
Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography
![photogrammetry of the indiana shipwreck](/media/lake-erie/indiana1.5-2018-1000.jpg)
Photomosaic image of Indiana, known to local divers as "the stone wreck." The Indiana, a wooden barquentine or three-mast topsail schooner, carried a load of paving stone when it sank in a storm in Lake Erie in 1870.
Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography
![Aerial view of Perry Monument at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania](/media/lake-erie/aerial-pi-perry-monument-provided by-365atlantatraveler-1000.jpg)
Aerial view of Perry Monument at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, which honors those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry led a fleet to victory in one of the most decisive naval battles to occur in the War of 1812.
Credit: VisitErie
![Aerial view of Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial](/media/lake-erie/shipwreck-work.jpg)
Assessing potential shipwreck locations in Lake Erie, Erie Pennsylvania.
Credit: Anna McCartney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant
![people at a museum looking at a shipwreck exhibit](/media/lake-erie/shipwreck-exhibit-2016-600.jpg)
Visitors explore treasures lost but found at the 2016 Shipwreck Exhibit at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Credit: Sarah Whitney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant