NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

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Underwater photographer with camera half out of the water.ALT

Need some photography tips? Trying to decide what pics to submit to our photo contest? 📸

Read our new web story, “Sanctuary Snapshots: Expert Photography Tips from Ocean Photo Contest Champions.”

Sanctuary Snapshots: Expert Photography Tips from Ocean Photo Contest Champions
We spoke with some of the photographers whose iconic images took home Get Into Your Sanctuary Photo Contest prizes in previous years. Let’s
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The Get Into Your Sanctuary Photo Contest closes this Monday, September 2. Submit your photos now: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/photo-contest.html

Woman standing on a rock, taking a photo of a beautiful sunset in Olympic Coast.ALT
EarthIsBlue PhotoContest Photography Underwater Nature

BREAKING NEWS: Introducing a NEW national marine sanctuary… 🎉

Aerial view of a white lighthouse by the ocean.ALT

With broad support, today NOAA announced an important addition to America’s National Marine Sanctuary System— Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. 

Diver examines a shipwreck in dark waters.ALT
Two divers swim near a shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Ontartio.ALT

The 1,722 square-mile area contains waters that act as a gateway between the Great Lakes and the ocean and protect culturally significant places, resources, and artifacts integral to American history and the heritage of Indigenous Peoples. 

This is the most recent national marine sanctuary designation since NOAA announced the inclusion of Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary in 2021, and it is the third sanctuary to be designated in the Great Lakes.

Introducing Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary: A Maritime Legacy
The designation of Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is supported by local governments (in Jefferson, Wayne, Cayuga, and Oswego countie
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EarthIsBlue NOAA LakeOntario GreatLakes NationalMarineSanctuary News CHOW24

Meet Dr. Nancy Foster Scholar, Serina Moheed! Serina is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis studying host-pathogen relationships in marine coastal ecosystems. Join Serina as she brings us through a day in her life in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

Scholars | Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program
Current and past scholars bios
fosterscholars.noaa.gov
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The Smallest Marine Mammal Who Ever Lived (in North America)

Graphic of a southern sea otter.ALT

The sea otter, the smallest marine mammal in North America, is a member of the weasel family and the only marine mammal that doesn’t have blubber to keep it warm. Instead, the sea otter relies on its thick fur to keep its body temperature around 100 degrees.


Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

Graphic of a whale shark.ALT

Whale sharks are known to be the largest fish in the world, with some individuals measuring 20 meters (60 feet) long and weighing around 40 tons. But, do not fear! Despite their tremendous size, they are gentle giants, using their nearly 1.5 m-wide (5-foot) mouths to filter plankton out of large volumes of water as they swim. Nothing to be afraid of.

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Registration for #CHOW2024 is open!

Capitol Hill Ocean Week graphic. Helping hands build on top of one another with event info surrounding the image.ALT

Good leaders know how to create purpose behind the work they do. This is what Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) 2024 is all about. The theme this year is ocean leadership, and the annual event hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation calls upon leaders from all walks of life to come together to drive attention and innovation to protect our ocean and center people at the core of ocean solutions.

The event will explore both the traditional and new ways that local and international communities are adapting to a changing planet, saving and protecting species, and sustaining human-environment relationships.

Announcing Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2024: Leadership
Good leaders know how to create purpose behind the work they do. This is what Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) 2024 is all about. The theme th
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chow2024 national marine sanctuary ocean marine science conservation marine conservation noaa

Smelly Gas Helps Researchers Track Right Whales

In the vast open ocean, how does a large animal like a North Atlantic right whale find enough food to eat? Scientists suspect whales are following odors produced by the natural chemical compound dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a smelly gas released when the copepods eat phytoplankton. To predict where right whales will be aggregating, scientists at NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary are conducting groundbreaking research following the same scent trail the whales may be using to locate their favorite food.

To track right whales this spring, researchers will use a benign suction cup to attach a digital tag tag to the flank of the whales. This photo shows the same type of tag used for humpback whale research. Credit: Center for Coastal Studies/NOAA under NMFS permit no. 27272ALT
The DMS instrument draws precise samples of water from the ocean and pushes air through those samples to create bubbles. These bubbles extract the DMS gas from the water, which then can be measured consistently throughout the research transect. Credit: David Wiley/NOAAALT
Copepods (tiny crustaceans), like this one viewed under a microscope, are important zooplankton at the base of the marine food web. Credit: NASAALT

Why does this matter? Click to learn more:

Smelly Gas Helps Researchers Track Right Whales
In the vast open ocean, how does a large animal like a right whale find enough food to eat? Right whales eat copepods, a tiny marine zooplan
sanctuaries.noaa.gov
ocean noaa earthisblue nature science national marine sanctuary conservation whales north atlantic right whales stellwagen bank cape cod gulf of maine endangered species