What's New: Gulf of the Farallones

The M/V Cosco Busan leaving San Francisco Bay in 2007. Photo by USCG Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin J. Neff.

$36.8 million awarded as part of the Natural Resource Damages (NRD) settlement to restore natural resources and improve recreational opportunities in areas affected by the Cosco Busan oil spill. Read more »

Young and healthy red abalone in Point Lobos State Park. Photo by Dr. Steve Lonhart, MBNMS NOAA.

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) confirmed reports of dead red abalone and sea stars inside coves along the coast in Sonoma County beginning on August 27, 2011. The number of dead and dying abalone is not known. Read more »

Ocean Climate Center. MJ Schramm/NOAA

NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary opened its new Ocean Climate Center at its headquarters in San Francisco. Read more »

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is proud to announce the release of the Condition Report 2010 for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The condition report can be downloaded at: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/condition.

Located off the Central California coast and encompassing 966 square nautical miles, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanc­tuary protects a diversity of highly productive marine habitats and supports an abundance of species. It is a complex system of bays, estuaries, mudflats, marsh and intertidal, coastal and oceanic wa­ters, and is influenced by the highly urbanized San Francisco Bay area populated by nearly 8 million people. The sanctuary has one of the world’s most significant populations of white sharks, in addition to one of the largest concentrations of breeding seabirds. It is a destina­tion feeding ground for endangered blue and humpback whales, and is one of the most important areas along the West Coast for marine commerce such as fishing, shipping, whale watching and tourism.

View Condition Report