News Releases - 2006

Dec. 13, 2006 -- The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce today unveiled an 18th century British cannon and a series of educational panels that will give visitors a deeper appreciation for the maritime history that lies beneath the waters of the Keys.

Nov. 21, 2006 -- Olympic National Marine Sanctuary is seeking to fill two seats on its advisory council, which represents the public's interests in sanctuary matters and provides advice to the sanctuary superintendent.

Oct. 31, 2006 -- The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council will hold a public advisory council meeting Nov. 2, 2006 at the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary office in Newport News, Va.

Oct. 18, 2006 -- Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is seeking applicants for three sanctuary advisory council seats representing university education, living resources research and Georgia conservation.

Oct. 17, 2006 -- NOAA today dedicated a new high-speed research vessel that will serve as an important new tool to enhance research and monitoring in the Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries located in offshore waters along the northern and central California coast.

Oct. 10, 2006 -- The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary will hold a series of public comment meetings this month to provide individuals and organizations the opportunity to comment on sanctuary management. These meetings, along with the release of the State of the Sanctuary Report, are the first steps in the management plan review process.

Oct. 6, 2006 -- NOAA is seeking public comment on the draft management plans and proposed regulations for the Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, as well as a joint draft environmental impact statement. The plans are the result of several years of study, planning, and extensive public input.

Sept. 28, 2006 -- NOAA marine archaeologists have confirmed the identity of a shipwreck discovered on July 3 in the waters of the recently designated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument. The team has identified the wreck, found at Kure Atoll, as that of the 258-foot iron hulled cargo ship Dunnottar Castle. The discovery was made during the first research expedition to the NWHI since it was designated a marine national monument by President Bush on June 15.

Sept. 27, 2006 -- Over the course of a five-day archeological investigation, researchers from NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary program, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the University of New Hampshire, and Stanford University have documented two major debris fields associated with the submerged wreck site of the rigid airship USS Macon, a U.S. Navy dirigible lost off California's Big Sur coast in 1935.

Sept. 7, 2006 -- On September 17, 2006 researchers from NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary program and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) will embark on an expedition off the Big Sur coast to conduct an archaeological investigation at the submerged wreck site of the rigid airship USS Macon, the nation’s largest and last U.S. built rigid lighter-than-air craft.

Sept. 6, 2006 -- NOAA has announced the award of 17 education grants totaling nearly $700,000 to San Francisco area schools and non-profit groups. The grants, part of NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, will support environmental education projects on NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank national marine sanctuaries, which are located off the central California coast.

Aug. 7, 2006 -- NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Interior, California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill and Response and partners will respond to a simulated oil spill off the San Francisco coast Aug. 9 and 10.

July 26, 2006 -- The owners and operators of the foreign-flagged container vessel Med Taipei have agreed to pay $3.25 million to the United States to resolve allegations that the 15 containers lost overboard in 2004 resulted in long-term damage to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce announced today.

July 24, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release the final management plan for Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary on July 25. The plan will be presented to the public at a meeting of the sanctuary's advisory council in Midway, Ga.

July 18, 2006 -- NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has completed a long awaited move into new offices at the Dr. Nancy Foster Florida Keys Environmental Complex at Truman Annex in Key West. .

July 17, 2006 -- A team of researchers are conducting a major mapping expedition this week at the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, site of one of the 19th century's greatest naval technological innovations, the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

July 17, 2006 -- NOAA and Immersion Presents today launched oceanslive.org, a marine science portal that offers live video and special content to educate people of all ages about the ocean, including national marine sanctuaries.

June 26, 2006 -- NOAA scientists have discovered areas of deep-sea corals in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary off the Washington state's Olympic Peninsula during a recent 12-day scientific research mission on board the NOAA ship McArthur II.

June 20, 2006 -- As its fifth anniversary approaches, researchers find confirmation that the country's largest marine reserve, part of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, is fulfilling its goal of protecting the region's marine life.

June 1, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary celebrates 25 years of ocean stewardship, research and education off the northern and central California coast this week. Designated in 1981, the sanctuary continues its commitment to protecting this national treasure that is world-renowned for its rich and unique diversity of marine life.

May 30, 2006 -- Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary staff has invited educators from around the country to get out of their classrooms and into the Gulf of Mexico for a five day educators' underwater exploration workshop, "Down Under, Out Yonder."

May 30, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking to fill the Maritime Museum seat on the newly formed Monitor Sanctuary Advisory Council. The council represents the public's interests in sanctuary matters and provides advice to the site superintendent. NOAA oversees the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

May 26, 2006 -- The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council will hold a public meeting via phone conference on May 30, 2006. Members of the public are invited to join the phone conference and provide comment during the public forum period. The sanctuary is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

May 23, 2006 -- At the request of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), assisted by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the University of Hawaii, will use state-of-the-art ocean exploration technology to gather data about an underwater munitions disposal site off the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

May 15, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut (NURC-UConn) will offer the public a real-time view of a pair of historic New England shipwrecks as researchers explore them on July 15 with a robot sub.

May 12, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Draft Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for public comment. The plan is the result of several years of study, planning, and extensive public input.

May 12, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary announced today the publication of a new Field Guide to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

May 5, 2006 -- The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (MNMS) Advisory Council will hold its first public advisory council meeting May 12, 2006 at the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary office in Newport News, Va. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a public comment period at 3:45 p.m. The sanctuary is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

April 24, 2006 -- The wrecks of the coal schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary, which rest on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary seafloor, have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today.  

April 13, 2006 -- Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary will host the first annual Southeastern Region ROV (remotely operated vehicle) Competition for students April 22nd at the Chatham County Aquatic Center on Sallie Mood Drive in Savannah, Ga.  

April 11, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the State of Florida have dedicated a new high-speed law enforcement vessel that will patrol the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, focusing on the Tortugas Ecological Reserve.  

April 1, 2006 -- Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary will offer three special awards for the best underwater marine environment scene drawn for Savannah's popular Sidewalk Arts Festival April 29.  

March 28, 2006 -- National marine sanctuaries played a key role last year in whale rescues, the discovery of new marine species, and the exploration of historic shipwrecks, according to a new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

March 14, 2006 -- Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary today announced the appointment of eight primary members and seven alternate members to serve on the site's sanctuary advisory council.  

March 14, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program announced the availability of up to $100,000 for projects that provide meaningful watershed education specifically to adults and communities.  

Feb. 28, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) announced today the winners of their design competition for an "environmentally friendly" anchor.  

Feb. 10, 2006 -- The coral reefs of NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located off the Texas-Louisiana coast, have begun to recover from what some observers feared would be a deadly coral bleaching event this past fall.  

Feb. 6, 2006 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) welcomes three New England residents to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.  

Jan. 28, 2006 -- More than 650 volunteers gathered data from the shores of O'ahu, Kaua'i, the Big Island and Kaho'olawe at Saturday's annual Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count to tally sightings and document surface behaviors of the endangered humpback whales.

Jan. 3, 2006 -- Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is seeking applicants to fill three open positions on the sanctuary’s advisory council.  The advisory council was established to advise NOAA on management of the sanctuary, including public education, research, monitoring and the protection of natural and maritime heritage resources.