National Marine Sanctuaries are sources of solutions, partnerships and identity 

Members of the Congressional Sanctuaries Caucus have introduced a resolution to make Oct. 23 the first ever National Marine Sanctuary Day. By drawing attention to our national marine sanctuaries, the nation can see them for what they are:  special places where conservation, economic prosperity, and human well being not only come together, but are deeply woven together in our national character and identity. They are also living laboratories for solutions we need to address climate change, protect biodiversity, and even dismantle historic inequities.   

Fifty years ago, the wreck of the ironclad USS Monitor was discovered off the North Carolina coast. The Civil War battleship was crewed by white and newly freed “contraband” Black sailors when it sank in 1862. It would go on to become the site of the first national marine sanctuary in the United States. In 1972, Congress passed the National Marine Sanctuaries Act to protect marine resources, such as coral reefs, sunken historical vessels and unique marine habitats.   

Since then, the National Marine Sanctuary System has grown to encompass 15 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments stretching from the Florida Keys to the U.S. territories of the Pacific Islands. And during the last 30 years, when the majority of sanctuaries were created, according to NOAA, global sea surface temperature has been consistently higher than at any other time since reliable observations began in 1880. Changes in temperature, due to human impacts, have led to an increase in marine heatwaves, harmful algal blooms, intensified hurricanes, and with it the loss of marine species, degraded coastlines and fisheries.  

With 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity found in the ocean, the system of sanctuaries along America’s coasts and Great Lakes isn’t just protecting our rich maritime history and ecological heritage, they’re lending their strength to the nation’s climate resiliency, strengthening coastal economies, and protecting marine wildlife that express our collective identity – from wild sockeye salmon to American lobster.  

Currently, six proposed sites are undergoing sanctuary designation, a NOAA-led process that is highly public and participatory. Proposed sanctuaries range from eastern Lake Ontario in the Great Lakes to the marine areas in Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, between Hawai’i and American Samoa, and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands.  

Sanctuary designations have led to new models of collaborative management among Indigenous Peoples, Tribal Nations, state and federal government. The first tribal-nominated marine sanctuary, Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, could soon protect numerous sites sacred to several coastal, ocean-going tribes along the central California coast. Designation of the proposed sanctuaries also support President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative by advancing inclusive and locally-led efforts to conserve at least 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.  

National marine sanctuaries can unite us in common cause to prevent extinction too. Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales give birth and nurse their young in Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Georgia, migrate through the area surrounding the proposed Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary and on to Stellwagen Bank off the coast of Massachusetts to feed and grow. There are just 350 of these remarkable creatures left. To let these creatures die off on our watch would be a tragedy for marine biodiversity and for the world. For years, public and private philanthropy has quietly supported innovative research in Stellwagen and Gray’s Reef that has led NOAA to invest $82 million to save them.  

If sanctuaries are sources of solutions, then sanctuaries are also partnerships of people. National Marine Sanctuary Day celebrates the volunteers, federal and state workers, Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, scientists and researchers, legislators and policymakers, who fight for marine wildlife, sustainable livelihoods, traditional culture, and preserving our shared maritime history. A climate-induced marine heatwave plagued Florida’s coral reefs this summer. A hundreds-strong army of divers rescued and relocated thousands of corals out of the heat and into nurseries representing a vital diversity of genetic material, so they could be restored once the waters cooled. In partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NOAA, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation helped local partners recover $1 million in costs. The lessons learned in the Florida Keys will inform global coral restoration for years to come.  

Like Yellowstone National Park, special places in our waters like Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary on Michigan’s Lake Huron coast are eminently accessible, hosting thousands of visitors every year to experience the area’s sunken history and enjoy the many benefits of being on the water. Whether fishing or diving among kelp forests with curious sea otters in Monterey Bay, or experiencing the Civil War history of the USS Monitor, the world can learn to treasure our marine protected areas as much as any land-based national park, knowing they illuminate history, protect species, and fight climate change. With the celebration of National Marine Sanctuary Day, we have the opportunity to share what many of us already know: that our sanctuary waters are essential to the American way of life, that we need more of them, and they’re worth protecting.  

Joel R. Johnson is president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.