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HomeAboutNOS Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Report

# Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

## NOS Fiscal Year 2015 Annual Report

## Two California national marine sanctuaries expand

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries more than doubled in size  on June of 2015. As a result  of the expansion, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is now known  as Greater Farallones National Marine  Sanctuary. The expansion is based on years of public comment and research by NOAA  and its scientific partners that identified the nutrient-rich upwelling zone  originating off Point Arena and flowing south into the original sanctuaries as  one of the most productive in North America. The area supports a vast array of  sea life including whales, seals, dolphins, sea lions, seabirds and white  sharks.

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## First nominations for possible new national marine sanctuaries

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries received the first nominations of places for  consideration as potential new national marine sanctuaries.  After an  extensive public process, NOAA launched a new, locally driven sanctuary  nomination process in June 2014. NOAA is reviewing submitted nominations to  determine whether they successfully  meet the national significance criteria and management considerations described  in the sanctuary  nomination process. As of July 2015,  NOAA has determined the nominations  for Mallows Bay – Potomac River (Maryland) and Lake Michigan (Wisconsin) have  met the criteria. The successful nominations are entered into the  inventory for consideration by  NOAA for national marine sanctuary designation. Sanctuary designation is a  separate public process that by law, is highly public and participatory, and  often takes several years to complete.

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## Maritime Heritage

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

NOAA, working with private industry partners and the  U.S. Navy, confirmed the location and condition of the USS *Independence*, the lead ship  of its class of light aircraft carriers that were critical during the American  naval offensive in the Pacific during World War II. The *Independence*rests upright in 2,600 feet  of water off California’s Farallon Islands. The story of the USS *Independence* generated more than 13,400  news stories and more than 900 million story impressions. NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries’ (ONMS) social media posts about the *Independence* resulted in 1,924 Twitter  engagements and 4,732 Facebook likes, comments and shares. A team of  researchers led by ONMS also discovered two  significant vessels from World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic. The German U-boat* 576* and  the tanker *Bluefields *were  found approximately 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Lost for more  than 70 years, the discovery of the two vessels, in an area known as the  Graveyard of the Atlantic, is a rare window into a historic military battle and  the underwater battlefield landscape of WWII.

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## National “Get Into Your Sanctuary Day” Activities

            -  **Supports NOS priority**: place-based conservation 

In support of the Administration's priorities  related to promotion of outdoor recreation and tourism, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) coordinated  a series of National “Get  into Your Sanctuary" activities in  June 2015 to encourage public awareness of sanctuaries as iconic destinations.  Every sanctuary in the country conducted social media outreach during the month  of June to promote corresponding National “Get into Your Sanctuary” Day events  that occurred from June 27-28th, 2015. The events were also featured as part of  Great Outdoors Month and involved opportunities for the public and Members of  Congress to “get into” their sanctuaries. Sites across the sanctuary system  welcomed more than 3,700 people to public activities.

ONMS social media channels used the hashtag  #VisitSanctuaries to highlight recreational activities that sanctuary visitors can responsibly  enjoy and share messages about how place-based conservation can contribute to  sustainable tourism.  The #VisitSanctuaries hashtag reached 914,247  Twitter users throughout the month of June. 

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###### **ONMS** Highlights

            - ** Two California national marine sanctuaries expand
            - ** Proposed expansion of focus, boundaries of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary
            - ** First nominations for possible new national marine sanctuaries
            - ** Maritime Heritage
            - ** National “Get Into Your Sanctuary Day” Activities

###### **NOS Accomplishments**

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