Sea Sanctuary Is Designated Off Point Reyes
Cordell Bank, off Point Reyes, Calif., was designated Friday as a National Marine Sanctuary.
The action places the area under the management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Included in the sanctuary is a 397-square-nautical-mile area 20 nautical miles west of Point Reyes and 50 nautical miles west-northwest of San Francisco, NOAA reported. It is just north of the current Farallon National Marine Sanctuary.
Undersecretary of Commerce William E. Evans said the agency is proposing to ban oil and gas activities throughout the sanctuary. Currently such activity is banned only in about 18 square miles of the area.
The marine sanctuary program was designed to protect unique offshore areas.
Cordell Bank forms an underwater plateau 300 to 400 feet below the surface with pinnacles and ridges rising to within about 115 feet of the water’s surface.
Abundant nutrients combine with high light penetration and a wide range of water depths to produce a unique biological community of algae, invertebrates, fish, marine mammals and sea birds, NOAA reported.
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