Gray's Reef
National Marine Sanctuary
Multimedia Gallery

Journey off the coast of Georgia to a vivid “live-bottom” reef.

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An urchin and anemone on a rock

Invertebrates

fish swarm around a reef

Live-Bottom Reef Habitat of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

Black Sea Bass

Black Sea Bass

barracuda swimming through a fish ball

Barracuda

two diver swimming with cameras, flashlights and measuring tape

Research in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

diver documenting fish swimming by

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

moray eel

Nancy Foster Cruise

view of a sunset from the stern of a boat

Sunset Over Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

A gray fish sits on the seafloor

Dive into Gray's Reef

a lionfish swims near corals

Lionfish: Terror of the Coral Reefs, Part 3

Virtual Reality & 360

NOAA divers collect photographs at a low relief ledge within the Research Area of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

Photo Time!

a typical ledge feature in the gray's reef national marine sanctuary, including an overhang under which Loggerhead sea turtles are often found resting

Cozy Nook in the Ledge

Three Great barracuda hover above a ledge

Barracuda

A school of spade fish

Schooling Fish

The ledges of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary are covered with marine organisms

Ledges of Biodiversity

large schools of different species of fish all moving in various directions

Fishes Galore!

low relief ledges attract schools of fish

Low-relief Community

acoustic receiver suspended in the water column

Acoustic Receiver

large purple sponge (Dysida fragilis)

Dysida Fragilis

large sponge in the center of a reef

Barrel Sponge

large ledge covered in sponges

Large Spongy Ledge

Gray's Reef is a marine oasis. On the surface, recreational anglers try for grouper, sea bass, and snapper, while a northern gannet flies overhead, and a NOAA weather buoy collects data. Beneath the waves, divers share the waters with a host of colorful tunicates, sponges, soft corals, and other residents of the live-bottom reef, like a loggerhead sea turtle, octopuses, nurse sharks, schools of spadefish, jellyfish, and North Atlantic right whales.

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Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Poster

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, located off the coast of Georgia. The reef's scattered rocky outcroppings and ledges provide home for an abundance of marine life, which form a dense carpet of living creatures called a &ldquolive bottom.” This poster highlights the true beauty and importance of the waters surrounding Gray's Reef.

Illustration by Matt McIntosh/NOAA