The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and thesubparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are availablefor public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of these sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and the subparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and othermanaged areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and thesubparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and thesubparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and the subparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and othermanaged areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries aredefined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and thesubparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundaryfiles for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legalboundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are availablefor public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and thesubparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundaryfiles for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.

The Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network (SIMoN) is an integrated, long-term program that takes an ecosystem approach to identify and understand changes to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. There are more than forty institutions and organizations in the greater Monterey Bay area that are currently examining various aspects of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Marine research conducted in the sanctuary includes long-term monitoring programs that are essential to furthering our understanding, and to determining the health, of the marine ecosystem. SIMoN enables researchers to monitor the sanctuary effectively by integrating the existing monitoring programs and identifying gaps in information. By avoiding duplication of these programs, resources can be more effectively directed towards surveying and characterizing habitats, assessing the impact of natural processes or human activities on specific resources, and long-term monitoring. Finally, SIMoN serves to make the monitoring data available to managers, decision makers, the research community, and the general public. Current projects, maps and graphs, and educational information are organized by subject on the website. In addition, three interactive maps are available which allow users to visualize, analyze and extract spatial data. The SIMoN Standard Viewer provides a wide variety of GIS data layers of various themes and focus. This viewer is useful for comparing spatial data from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The SIMoN Water Quality Viewer provides GIS data layers relevant to water quality issues in and around the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Finally the R/V McArthur II Research Cruise Viewer provides GIS data layers and links to video clips and images obtained from the April, 2004 McArthur II survey conducted in the Monterey Bay, Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones national marine sanctuaries.

These data show the 17 national marine sanctuaries in the United States. The National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to designate and protect areas of the marine environment with special national significance due to their conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, scientific, cultural, archeological, educational or esthetic qualities as national marine sanctuaries.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries manages a system of sanctuaries and other managed areas around the country. The legal boundaries of These sanctuaries are defined within the Code of Federal Regulations, at 15 C.F.R. Part 922 and the subparts for each national marine sanctuary. The GIS compatible digital boundary files for each national marine sanctuary are representations of those legal boundaries and are based on the best available data. These files are available for public use at locations defined in this metadata record.