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Based on the famed French explorer’s film series, Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures, these are the definitive guides to America’s thirteen National Marine Sanctuaries and its one Marine National Monument. Each of the four books conducts a grand adventure through one of the four regions of the National Marine Sanctuary system, combining engaging descriptions, stunning four-color photography, and behind-the-scenes stories from the Ocean Futures Society expedition team. Insightful inquiries into the health of the world’s oceans are provided along with an overview of several incredible underwater treasures. Conveying the beauty of the ocean and the specific measures being put into effect to preserve it, this inspirational collection also features detailed, practical information for planning visits to the sanctuaries.
* Winner of IBPA’s Benjamin Franklin Award
Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of Jacques Cousteau, is the author of America's Underwater Treasures, the Explore the National Marine Sanctuaries series, and My Father, the Captain,and is a founder of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. He is a recipient of the Emmy Award, the Peabody Award, the 7 d’Or, and the Cable Ace Award. He has produced more than eighty films, and is the executive producer of the television show Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Dr. Sylvia A. Earle, PhD, is an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, the leader of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, and a chair of Google Earth advisory council for the ocean. She is a charter member of the Ocean Futures Society Advisory Board and the former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as a founder of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. She lives in Oakland, California.
Maia McGuire, PhD, holds a PhD in Marine Biology and Fisheries. She is the Florida Sea Grant agent for the University of Florida and is the chair of the National Sea Grant Education Network. She has recently been named the Florida Wildlife Federation’s 2015 Conservation Educator of the Year.
Contents
Foreword by Dr.Sylvia Earle xii
Preface xv
Introduction 1
About the Series 1
About National Sanctuaries 3
The National Marine Sanctuaries’ West Coast Region 5
Overlapping Themes in the Five West Coast National
Marine Sanctuaries 6
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuaries 33
About Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary 33
Why A National Sanctuary? 39
Resources Within the Sanctuary 45
Key Species Within the Sanctuary 56
Emerging Environmental Issues 65
Research Within the Sanctuary 67
Visiting the Sanctuary 70
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary 93
About Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary 93
Why A National Marine Sanctuary? 98
Resources Within the Sanctuary 101
Key Species Within the Sanctuary 117
Emerging Environmental Issues 125
Research Within the Sanctuary 127
Visiting the Sanctuary 128
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 143
About Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 143
Why A National Marine Sanctuary? 146
Resources Within the Sanctuary 149
Key Species Within the Sanctuary 170
Emerging Environmental Issues 183
Research Within the Monument 184
Visiting the Sanctuary 187
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary 193
About Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 193
Why A National Marine Sanctuary? 199
Resources Within the Sanctuary 203
Key Species Within the Sanctuary 210
Research Within the Monument 229
Research Assets 230
Visiting the Sanctuary 236
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary 243
About Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary 243
Why A National Marine Sanctuary? 245
Resources Within the Sanctuary 248
Key Species Within the Sanctuary 255
Emerging Environmental Issues 270
Research Within the Monument 279
Visiting the Sanctuary 280
When You Visit the Sanctuaries 289
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary 289
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary 304
Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary 313
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary 320
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary 326
Acknowledgments 333
Glossary 335
Biographies 341
Index 345
Introduction
About the Series
The four book series, Explore the National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau has been developed in partnership with the National Marine Sanctuary system and Ocean Future Society. Text in italics is excerpted from the previously, limited-edition book America’s Underwater Treasures by Jean-Michel Cousteau and Julie Robinson with photography by Carrie Vonderhatt. That book describes the experience and research of Jean-Michel Cousteau and his Ocean Futures Team while diving all 13 underwater marine sanctuaries and the one underwater marine monument. Their experiences is captured in a film by the same name aired on PBS as part of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures. The current series is offered to make information on these vital sanctuaries even more inclusive for the American public.
Each book in the series takes readers to one of the four regions of the country into which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has organized its management of the National Marine Sanctuaries. This book, Explore the West Coast National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau, visits sanctuaries and a national monument off Hawaii and American Samoa. The other books in the series are:, Explore the Southeast National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau, Explore the Northeast National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau and Explore the Pacific Islands National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau,.
The first National Marine Sanctuary in the United States was established only decades ago, while Yellowstone, the oldest of the American National Parks ,was created in 1872. By comparison the parks, these natural marine jewels were damaged upon arrival. Only small portions remain pristine. For many, their destinations arose amidst threats to one or a number of aspects to their survival. Like terrestrial parks, these are special habitats, managed zones for the recovery of critical species like humpback whales or juvenile rockfish but, most importantly, they attempt to preserve the integrity of the web of life.
Ironically, we discovered that managing these resources for sustainability was in truth an exercise in managing ourselves. And that’s not bad, as we’re still learning, an easy job. At each destination we were privileged witnesses to the real-time drama of marine conservation playing out across the United States. At the heart of it, we found a powerful paradigm shift happening in environmentalism. Fishermen, environmentalists and scientists from opposite sides of the aisle were sitting down together with rolled-up sleeves, poring through scientific research, debating the merits of reserves and restoration, and coming to terms with the new definition of sanctuary. “These are,” as Dan Basta, past director of the National Marine Sanctuary System, reminded us, “still works in progress.”
The National Marine Sanctuaries’ West Coast Region
The five West Coast national marine sanctuaries encompass 12,682 square miles (32,846 km) of ocean, including hundreds of miles of dramatic coastline. Teeming with life and filled with history, they offer countless opportunities for exploration, recreation and contemplation. The West Coast Region seeks to support research into human connections to the sea that includes indigenous native cultures, seafaring traditions and the discovery and protection of maritime heritage resources, such as shipwrecks, and those objects which remain in place to remind us of historic activities including lighthouses, historic wharves, docks and piers. The West Coast Regional office of the national marine sanctuaries manages marine protected areas around the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulfof the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Olympic Coast, Each of the five West Coast national marine sanctuaries is a jewel unto itself, but also to the entire coast from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico and to the far reaches of the world ocean via ocean currents.
