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.

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, an area of 3,295 square miles off the northern and central California coast, protects the wildlife, habitats, and cultural resources of one of the most diverse and bountiful marine environments in the world. The waters are a nationally significant marine ecosystem, and support an abundance of life, including breeding and feeding grounds for at least 25 endangered and threatened species; 36 marine mammal species; over a quarter of a million breeding seabirds; and one of the most significant white shark populations on the planet.

About the Artwork
The Farallon Islands provide a dramatic backdrop to the highly productive and diverse marine ecosystem around them. Common murres can be seen nesting in colonies on rocky cliffs and diving for food. Below the waves, a white shark takes center stage while sea lions swim among bull kelp forests. Other species offshore and along the rocky shore include Chinook salmon, blue rockfish, red abalone, sea stars, red and purple urchins, and pink-encrusted algae.

LOCATION
• Off the California coast, from San Francisco north to Pt. Arena.

PROTECTED AREA
• 3,295 square miles

DESIGNATION
• January 1981

HABITATS
• Bays and estuaries
• Continental shelf and slope
• Deep benthos
• Deep rocky reefs
• Islands
• Kelp forests (bull kelp)
• Open ocean
• Sandy and rocky shores

KEY SPECIES
•Tufted puffin
• Blue whale
• Common murre
• Dungeness crab
• Harbor seal
• Krill
• Steller sea lion
• Red abalone
• White shark
• Chinook salmon

ARTWORK BY : Matt McIntosh 

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