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fall 2012
Gray’s Reef
Located 20 miles east of Sapelo Island, Ga., Gray’s Reef
National Marine Sanctuary features one of the largest
nearshore live-bottom reefs in the southeastern United States.
The 23-square-mile sanctuary lies in water 50 to 70 feet deep
and is home to an abundance of invertebrates that make their
homes in the reef’s complex rocky ledges, nooks and crevices.
Other marine life includes loggerhead turtles, Atlantic
spotted dolphin and endangered northern right whales.
In recognition of the area’s importance to a variety of
marine life, the United Nations designated Gray’s Reef an
International Biosphere Reserve.
Channel Islands
If you don’t mind cold water, an amazing variety of marine
life awaits in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
This sanctuary encompasses the waters surrounding San
Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Barbara
Islands off California’s coast.
“
The sanctuary is large and diverse, so each island area
and each habitat offers something different,” said dive
instructor Kathy deWet-Oleson. “Sea fans in red, orange
and purple hues decorate rocky reefs covered with sea stars,
urchins, nudibranchs and small reef fish. You can also see
shallow-water species of rockfish, and some areas offer a
good chance of diving with sea lions or harbor seals.”
Thunder Bay
In northeastern Michigan, Steve Kroll, owner of Great Lakes
Divers, has been diving wrecks in Thunder Bay National
Marine Sanctuary for nearly 50 years. The sanctuary protects
one of America’s best-preserved and most significant collections
of shipwrecks. More than 200 pioneer steamboats, majestic
schooners and huge steel freighters wrecked near Thunder Bay,
and many of these sites remain virtually unchanged.
“
I have had customers come here from all over the world,
and most will tell you they’ve never seen anything quite like this
place,” Kroll said. “There’s so much history here, and thanks to
the cold water, the ships are incredibly well preserved.”
Stellwagen Bank
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offers divers an
opportunity to experience New England’s offshore undersea
environment at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. Strong
currents and cold water create challenging dive conditions.
With 126 square miles of seafloor within recreational
limits, the bank allows adventurous divers to explore areas
no other diver has visited. Monkfish and schools of sand
lance are common in the sand and gravel areas on top of
Stellwagen Bank, while the boulders on Jeffrey’s Ledge hide
Acadian redfish and Atlantic wolffish.
Four ships sunk on the bank are now relics that offer
glimpses into the area’s maritime past. In partnership with
local dive operators, the sanctuary has begun to install
moorings on the wrecks for divers.
Cordell Bank
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary gets its name from the
underwater mountain that rises to within 115 feet of the surface
off Point Reyes, Calif. In 2010, a team of technical divers from
NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries and the Cooperative
Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology
completed a series of deep dives in rigorous conditions on
Cordell Bank. This was the first dive expedition to the bank
Clockwise from above: A diver at
Gray’s Reef NMS; a cabin of the
Monrovia in Thunder Bay NMS;
although intentionally diving
with whales in the northeastern
U.S. is unlawful, surface tours
offer opportunities to view these
majestic animals in Stellwagen
Bank NMS; a California
sheephead in a kelp forest at
Channel Islands NMS
ANDY MORRISON
Allison Stimpert; NMFS permit #14245
GREG M
c
FALL
ROBERT SCHWEMMER
More Sanctuaries
Visit AlertDiver.com for a photo gallery and more on the
sanctuaries, including Olympic Coast NMS, Gulf of the Farallones
NMS and Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.