NOAA Sanctuaries

Do you want to learn more about the FORCE BLUE Veterans Tour of Duty in Your National Marine Sanctuaries? 💙🤝


Join Jim Ritterhoff, Executive Director and Co-Founder of FORCE BLUE; Angelo Fiore, Navy Diver, U.S. Navy Veteran; Dan Henderson, Green Beret, U.S. Army Veteran; Ricky Brown, Navy Seal, U.S. Navy Veteran; and Stephanie Gandulla, Superintendent, NOAA’s Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary to learn more about FORCE BLUE, past and upcoming projects, and get your questions answered as part of the National Marine Sanctuaries Webinar Series!


🗓️When: November 10, 2026 | 5 pm Eastern
💻Where: Virtual (register at the link below)


With the mission of healing veterans and healing the ocean, FORCE BLUE redeploys Special Operations veterans and military-trained combat divers to work alongside top scientists and environmentalists from NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries on a multi-year Sanctuaries Tour of Duty campaign to conduct marine conservation missions in and around each of America's iconic national marine sanctuaries.


Learn more and register for this webinar: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/teachers/webinar-se…

Image Descriptions:
1. Scuba diver approaches coral underwater.
2. Four people stand behind models of coral in the Gray's Reef Ocean Discovery Center.
3. Two people sit in a canoe surrounded by swampy vegetation.

📸: Matt McIntosh/NOAA; Shannon Shikles/NOAA; Matt McIntosh/NOAA; Matt McIntosh/NOAA
#EarthIsBlue #Veterans #VeteransDay

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1 day ago | [YT] | 5

NOAA Sanctuaries

🎃 Happy Hallowee-kend from your National Marine Sanctuaries! 🦇 Get to know the creatures from your nightmares....or at least the ones from the bottom of the ocean ...🦑

There is nothing to fear! When a whale dies at sea, its body sinks to the seafloor. Whale falls serve as an important food source for animals from large sharks to small worms and can feed communities for years to decades! These creatures of the deep are doing their part to keep their deep-sea habitat healthy.

👉 Get spooky with us: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/spooky/.

🎨: Matt McIntosh/NOAA 🎥: Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA
#SpookySanctuaries #Halloween #October #WhaleFall

4 days ago | [YT] | 0

NOAA Sanctuaries

Explore the largest wooden ship graveyard in the Western Hemisphere for another #SpookySanctuaries feature!

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary protects and interprets the remnants of more than 100 World War I-era wooden steamships – known as the "Ghost Fleet". The best way to see this national treasure is by kayak but check out this "Sanctuaries 360" video and explore the Ghost Fleet without ever getting your feet wet!

Dive in: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/vr/mallows-potomac/ghost-flee…

#EarthIsBlue #Shipwrecks #VirtualReality #VR

6 days ago | [YT] | 0

NOAA Sanctuaries

⚓️🇺🇸The USS Monitor wasn’t just a vessel, it was America's ship, a technological marvel that forever changed the course of naval history. Recovering key components of the ironclad wreck, including the iconic rotating gun turret, from 240 feet below the surface was an unprecedented project that pushed the limits of human ingenuity and preserved a critical chapter of our past.

Join us in uncovering this incredible journey of recovery, resilience, and history.

🎥 Watch the full #StoriesFromTheBlue episode: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/earthisblue/honoring-uss-moni…

Be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter of this story, where we'll explore the ongoing conservation efforts that are helping protect the Monitor's legacy for generations to come.

#USSMonitor #AmericanHistory #MaritimeHeritage #NOAA

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

NOAA Sanctuaries

🐢 Happy #NationalReptileAwarenessDay! 🐢

Green sea turtles are well-adapted to life in the ocean and, like all sea turtles, are reptiles that must surface to breathe. These friends are long-lived and could reach at least 70 years old or more and return to land to lay their eggs on sandy beaches. They are remarkable navigators and usually return to a beach in the general area where they hatched and sometimes migrate hundreds to thousands of miles each way between their foraging grounds and nesting beaches. Over 90% of green sea turtles nest in Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands!

🌊 Do you have a favorite marine reptile?

📸: Koa Matsuoka/USFWS
#EarthIsBlue #SeaTurtles #Reptiles #ReptileDay #Turtles

1 week ago | [YT] | 1

NOAA Sanctuaries

Today is the 54th anniversary of the Marine Mammal Protection Act 🐬🐋🦦🦭💙

Marine mammals are vital to the balance of marine ecosystems and are key indicators of the overall health of the ocean. First enacted in 1972, this act ensures that marine mammals like whales, porpoises, seals, sea lions, otters, and dolphins can carry out their normal lives without disruption.

To learn more about NOAA's work under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, head to www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/marine-mammal-protect….

📸: Robert Schwemmer/NOAA; Claire Fackler/NOAA; Michael L. Baird; NOAA; NOAA; K. Grosskruetz/NOAA Permit #15240

Image Descriptions:
1. Two elephant seals laying together by greenery.
2. A pod of dolphins under water.
3. A sea otter with an open mouth at the surface of the water.
4. Two blue whales swim at the surface of the water.
5. Three monk seals in the surf.
6. A humpback whale breaching out of the water.

#MarineMammalProtectionAct #MMPA #EarthIsBlue #NOAA

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1 week ago | [YT] | 6

NOAA Sanctuaries

Happy Anniversary to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary! 🌟⚓️

Located in northwestern Lake Huron, Thunder Bay is adjacent to one of the most treacherous stretches of water within the Great Lakes system. Unpredictable weather, murky fog banks, sudden gales, and rocky shoals earned the area the name "Shipwreck Alley."

You can explore the many shipwrecks by diving, snorkeling, and paddling – and if you'd rather not get your feet wet, you can experience history at the many lighthouses that dot the sanctuary's shores.

Learn more, visit: thunderbay.noaa.gov/

🌈 All year long, we will be highlighting the 🎨 #SanctuarySwatch palettes from across your National Marine Sanctuary System as we celebrate the site's anniversaries. Stay tuned to catch all 18 swatches!

📸: David Ruck/NOAA
#EarthIsBlue #ThunderBay #GreatLakes #ColorPalette

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 7

NOAA Sanctuaries

🎃 It's officially October and that means it's time to creep into 13 dives of Halloween across your National Marine Sanctuary System! 🦑 Explore these mysterious creatures and ocean oddities, and get inspired by spooky ocean decor we’ve gathered just for you...if you dare... 👻

🦇Join us for a spoOoky sanctuaries October, visit: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/spooky/

🎥: MBARI | 🎨: Matt McIntosh/NOAA
#SpookySanctuaries #Halloween #October #DeepSea #Ocean #Fall

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

NOAA Sanctuaries

Happy Anniversary to Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary! 🌟

Close to the California mainland, yet worlds apart, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the waters surrounding five of the eight California Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara). The islands' remote, isolated position at the joining of two major ocean currents creates remarkable biodiversity. 🦭 Discover a world that has been protected for current and future generations to explore, learn from, and enjoy for the last 46 years!

🌈 All year long, we will be highlighting the 🎨 #SanctuarySwatch palettes from across your National Marine Sanctuary System as we celebrate the site's anniversaries. Stay tuned to catch all 18 swatches!

📸: Dustin Harris
#EarthIsBlue #ChannelIslands #ColorPalette

1 month ago | [YT] | 8

NOAA Sanctuaries

Today is the 34th anniversary of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary! 🌅

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary hosts a remarkably productive marine environment containing extensive kelp forests, rugged rocky shores, wave-swept sandy beaches, tranquil estuaries, towering seamounts, and deep-sea canyons. Stretching 276 miles of coastline and consisting of 6,094 square miles, the sanctuary was designated in 1992 to protect incredible marine ecosystems and cultural and maritime resources while promoting sustainable use. Join us in celebrating the Serengeti of the Sea! 🌿🦑🐋🦭

Learn more about the sanctuary at montereybay.noaa.gov.

🌈 All year long, we will be highlighting the 🎨 #SanctuarySwatch palettes from across your National Marine Sanctuary System as we celebrate the site's anniversaries. Stay tuned to catch all 18 swatches!

📸: Bruce Sudweeks
#EarthIsBlue #MontereyBay #ColorPalette

1 month ago | [YT] | 3