October 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary System. To celebrate, we’ve created 3D Augmented Reality displaying custom artwork and educational information made by the incredible team at NOAA celebrating the wildlife that thrives in these protected waters around the nation.

The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, located off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in California, encompasses 1,470 square miles of water offshore of San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara islands. It is a special place for endangered species, sensitive habitats, historic shipwrecks, and cultural resources. Many valuable commercial and recreational activities, such as fishing, shipping, and tourism, occur here. For the Indigenous Chumash people, the waters of the sanctuary and the northern Channel Islands hold a value that is beyond measure. The sanctuary protects research, education, conservation, and stewardship.

About the Artwork
A crew of modern-day Chumash, Indigenous peoples of the area, paddle a tool (plank canoe) under the Milky Way and past Anacapa Island's lighthouse and famous arch rock. Below the waves reveal a Channel Islands kelp forest, renowned for an abundance of color, beauty, and life, where California sea lions swim among a garibaldi, leopard shark, white abalone, California spiny lobster, California sheephead, giant sea bass, sea stars, and red and purple urchins.

LOCATION
• In California, about 23 miles offshore from Santa Barbara and 13 miles from Ventura

PROTECTED AREA
• 1,470 square miles

DESIGNATION
• September 1980

HABITATS
• Kelp forests
• Open ocean
• Rocky reefs
• Deep sea corals & sponge communities
• Seagrass meadows
• Shallow sand bottoms

KEY SPECIES
• Ashy storm-petrel
• Blue whale
• California brown pelican
• California spiny lobster
• Giant sea bass
• Humpback whale
• Northern elephant seal
• Pink-footed shearwater
• Red abalone

ARTWORK BY : Matt McIntosh 

Official website: https://monitor.noaa.gov/