Get Into Your Sanctuary - Conservation Through Participation jennifer.simms Mon, 08/05/2019 - 09:45

One way to describe a National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) is to consider it a “National Park of the Ocean”, and much like our park system, these ocean parks are special areas that protect important marine and freshwater ecosystems around the nation. Each year, the sanctuaries celebrate Get Into Your Sanctuary, a day or days to raise awareness about the value of our national marine sanctuaries as iconic destinations for responsible recreation through a series of special activities.

It’s Time to Color Outside the Lines

Posted Thu, 08/01/2019 - 08:13

It’s National Coloring Book Day and we are celebrating by encouraging you to explore our digital educational curricula or a downloadable coloring page. There are many benefits associated with coloring, not to mention the opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art or an up-cycled card for a friend. So grab that scrap paper from the recycling bin or download a page from the web, and let’s get started!

Derelict Fishing Gear Research and Recovery with Fishing for Energy

Posted Mon, 07/29/2019 - 14:15

Every year, wildlife and marine habitat suffer from the negative impacts of derelict, lost, and abandoned fishing gear. Derelict gear (crab pots, fishing line, nets, etc.) can capture or entangle wildlife (a process called “ghost fishing”), damage sensitive marine habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds, and cause hazards to navigation.

A Big Problem with Many Solutions: Derelict Crab Pots in Washington State

Posted Wed, 07/17/2019 - 09:18

They say that too many cooks spoil the broth, but when the broth is derelict crab pots in Washington State, the more cooks the better. Over 10,000 crab pots are estimated to be lost annually in the Puget Sound alone, and  many more are lost in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and along the Pacific Coast.

Turning the Tide on the Single-Use Plastic Culture at Eckerd College

Posted Wed, 07/10/2019 - 13:17

Located in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida, Eckerd College is a campus surrounded and defined by water. With the support of a NOAA Marine Debris Program Prevention Grant, the college recently implemented “The Sea Around Us: Reducing Single-use Plastic Consumption on a Coastal College Campus”, a project focuses on reducing, and ultimately eliminating, single-use plastic consumption on the college campus, as well as items that could potentially become marine debris.

On a Mission to Research Microplastics in the Mississippi River

Posted Wed, 07/03/2019 - 12:45

The growing tide of plastic debris in our ocean is partially due to the steady discharge of plastic by our rivers that drain into the sea. Plastics materials enter waterways from rural and urbanized areas located near riverbanks, and then travel downstream with the flow. Plastic comes in a variety of sizes and includes both macroplastics (large enough to be seen with the naked eye) and microplastics (not easily seen with the naked eye and are about 5 mm in size; about the size of a pencil eraser).