A U.S. National Marine Sanctuary is a federally designated area within United States waters that protects areas of the marine environment with special conservation, recreational, ecological, historica
Undated diagram from 2013 or earlier illustrating the orientation of the then-three marine sanctuaries of Central California: Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay. In October 2024, a fourth sanctuary, Chumash Heritage, was created.