News Releases

December 8, 2005 --A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program known as the Bay Watershed Education and Training Program, or B-WET, is looking to distribute $350,000 in grants for projects that will give students meaningful learning experiences about the watersheds of the Santa Barbara/ Ventura area and NOAA-run Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

December 8, 2005 --A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program known as the Bay Watershed Education and Training Program, or B-WET, is looking to distribute $700,000 in grants for projects that will give students meaningful learning experiences about the watersheds of the San Francisco Bay area and NOAA-run Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

December 7, 2005 --This winter, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will offer residents of the Keys a chance to explore the sanctuary without donning a wetsuit, and get a behind the scenes look at the challenges of managing a complex coral reef ecosystem.

September 17, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration opened its new Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Mich. The 20,000-square-foot facility features exhibits about shipwrecks and the Great Lakes, an auditorium for viewing underwater video of shipwrecks, and an archaeological conservation laboratory.

September 6, 2005 -- NOAA, with support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), will return this week to the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" to continue the hunt for the Alligator, the U.S. Navy's first submarine. The joint expedition will take place Sept. 9-12 off Cape Hatteras, N.C., where the Civil War-era vessel was lost during a fierce storm in 1863.

August 10, 2005 -- Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS), managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking to fill all seats on a new advisory council being formed to represent the public's interests in sanctuary matters and provide advice to its manager.

July 26, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary announced the appointment of Cynthia Dawn Walter of Carmel Valley, Calif., as a new at-large alternate member to serve on the sanctuary's advisory council.

June 28, 2005 -- The NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary System and NOAA Fisheries Service today launched a summer West Coast research cruise continuing the single largest whale survey ever undertaken to assess humpback whale populations throughout the North Pacific Ocean. The project is called SPLASH (Structures of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpbacks.)

June 22, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is calling for volunteers for its Beach Watch monitoring program. Beach Watch is a long-term research project of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and is coordinated by the non-profit Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association.

June 17, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's Gray 's Reef National Marine Sanctuary will hold its next sanctuary advisory council meeting in Charleston, S.C., June 21-22.

June 10, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today announced the beginning of a research effort to identify and count marine mammals and seabirds along the west coast of the United States while also investigating the ocean ecosystem. This scientific endeavor, known as the Collaborative Survey of Cetacean Abundance and the Pelagic Ecosystem (CSCAPE) will survey up to 300-miles along the continental shelf and deep waters off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California.

May 13, 2005 -- NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program has unveiled a new education website as part of a continuing NOAA effort to enhance public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the marine environment.

April 22, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration presented its Environmental Hero Award to 34 individuals and three organizations this year from across the United States. Given in conjunction with Earth Day celebrations, the award honors NOAA volunteers for their tireless efforts to preserve and protect our nation's environment.

April 21, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, biologists are restoring several boat grounding sites off Marathon in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. By using native fill material to restore three blowholes in the seagrass beds, restoration experts hope to prevent the injured areas from deteriorating further and create a foundation for the renewed growth of seagrass.

April 20, 2005 -- Capt. Scott Fowler, a scientific diver and captain for the National Undersea Research Center, has been recognized by NOAA as a 2005 Environmental Hero for his long-standing commitment to raising public awareness for protection of the Florida coral reef ecosystem. 

April 15, 2005 -- Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary will sponsor the second annual Savannah Ocean Film Festival Sept. 23-25, 2005, at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Trustees Theater and the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, manages the sanctuary.

April 7, 2005 -- NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will conduct an emergency response drill in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary April 19-21, 2005, and is asking for assistance from local residents to help ensure its success. The goal of the drill is to improve the agency's ability to protect the environment of the Florida Keys and the public in case of a major incident. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. (En Espanol)

March 14, 2005 -- Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, managed by the U.S. Commerce Department's NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking applicants for two voting and two non-voting or alternate Sanctuary Advisory Council seats.

Feb. 23, 2005 -- The NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary today announced the 2005 Marine Art Contest for students in grades K-12. This year's theme is "Stellwagen Bank - 150 Years of Discovery, " commemorating the work of Lt. Henry Stellwagen and the discovery of the bank at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay that now bears his name. The first official government chart showing "Stellwagen's Bank " appeared in 1855.

Feb. 17, 2005 -- NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, today announced that the wreck of the Steamship Portland has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Registry is the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The Portland rests on the sea bottom in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast.

Feb. 15, 2005 -- NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announces the availability of the draft revised management plan for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for public review and comment. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Feb. 15, 2005 -- NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, today announced a settlement of more than half a million dollars in a case of a Panamanian freighter cited for coral damage in a Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary no-anchor zone.

Jan. 7, 2005 -- Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, managed by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking applicants for four Sanctuary Advisory Council seats.

Jan. 3, 2005 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS) is seeking applicants to fill sanctuary advisory council seats representing research, conservation, maritime activity, education and community-at-large interests.