Proposed Designation of Lake Erie National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is considering designating a new national marine sanctuary in Lake Erie, adjacent to Pennsylvania, and the public is invited to participate in the first step of the process. Erie County, Pennsylvania submitted a nomination in 2015, and NOAA is now considering sanctuary designation to protect the region's maritime heritage resources, including a nationally significant collection of shipwrecks.

The images and videos below can be downloaded in high resolution and may be freely used for press purposes.

Proposed Lake Erie National Marine Sanctuary Designation process Federal Register Notice National marine sanctuaries: Value added for communities and the Blue Economy

Map showing boundary of the proposed Lake Erie national marine sanctuary. — Area proposed for Lake Erie National Marine Sanctuary

Map: NOAA

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the u.s. brig niagara in transit with it's sails open — The U.S. Brig *Niagara*, home-ported in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a reconstruction of Oliver Hazard Perry's relief flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie.

Credit: VisitErie

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aerial of the pennsylvania shore line; the u.s. brig niagara is dock next to the bicentenial tower — The Bicentennial Tower is an observation tower in Erie, Pennsylvania that features panoramic views of Lake Erie, Presque Isle State Park, and downtown Erie.

Credit: VisitErie

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philip d. armour at sea — Built in 1889, the *Philip D. Armour* foundered in a gale while being towed on Nov. 13, 1915, northwest of Presque Isle Light, Lake Erie. Enroute from Ashtabula, Ohio, to Welland, Ontario, with a cargo of coal, the wooden barge and former steamer drifted onto a shoal and sank.

Credit: Kenneth Thro Collection at University of Wisconsin-Superior (Thunder Bay Research Collection)

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alt — The two-masted brig, *Oxford*, sank after colliding with the steamer *Cataract* and now lies in 160 feet of water within Lake Erie.

Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography

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photogrammetry of the indiana shipwreck — Photomosaic image of *Indiana*, known to local divers as "the stone wreck." The *Indiana*, a wooden barquentine or three-mast topsail schooner, carried a load of paving stone when it sank in a storm in Lake Erie in 1870.

Credit: Jeremy Bannister Photography

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Aerial view of Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, which honors those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry led a fleet to victory in one of the most decisive naval battles to occur in the War of 1812.

Credit: VisitErie

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two people standing in shallow water examining a shipwreck — Assessing potential shipwreck locations in Lake Erie, Erie Pennsylvania.

Credit Anna McCartney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant

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people at a museum looking at a shipwreck exhibit — Visitors explore treasures lost but found at the 2016 Shipwreck Exhibit at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Credit Sarah Whitney/Pennsylvania Sea Grant

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