Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

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The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected marine area offshore of California’s central coast, stretching from Marin to Cambria. Its website, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, contains abundance of great material that can be used in science classrooms studying oceanography and marine biology.Check out the Sanctuary Photos to browse through a slideshow of habitat and wildlife scenes from the sanctuary. The images are complete with detailed captions introducing students to mud inhabitants (like the ghost shrimp), the importance of coastal wetlands, northern elephant seals, and more.Go on a Whale Watching tour over the Internet! Learn about the migration of these amazing creatures and the details on several specific species including blue whales, Risso’s dolphins, killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, and several others.Visit the Virtual Tidepool and learn about creatures that lurk in tidepools such as the red octopus, batstar, giant green anemone, goose barnacle, purple shore crab, and more.At the Natural Resources of the Sanctuary area of the site, find a summary of species and habitats in the sanctuary, marine mammal stock assessment reports, seafloor mapping, ecosystem observations, and a QuickTime VR Panorama movie of the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon.The Education and Outreach section is still under development. But in addition to several links to quality marine science curriculum materials, the website hosts The Land-Sea Connection, a curriculum complementing the bathymetric map of the Monterey Bay sanctuary to increase students’ understanding of science and geography in Spanish and English.