Dec. 8, 2011 -- NOAA -- Coral reef successfully restored after 2002 boat grounding in Florida Keys.

Nov. 1, 2011 -- NOAA today released the final management plan and environmental assessment for the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Washington state.

Oct. 20, 2011 -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will help the State of North Carolina recover a large cannon from the Queen Anne's Revenge, the sunken flagship of the notorious pirate captain Blackbeard.

Sep. 27, 2011 -- With the first confirmed sighting this week of a humpback whale in waters off the Big Island, NOAA is reminding boaters and other ocean users to keep a safe distance from these annual visitors to Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Sep. 19, 2011 -- Channel Islands -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has awarded 23 California K-12 schools more than $115,000 to become Ocean Guardians.

Sep. 19, 2011 -- Gulf of the Farallones -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has awarded 23 California K-12 schools more than $115,000 to become Ocean Guardians.

Sep. 19, 2011 -- Monterey Bay -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has awarded 23 California K-12 schools more than $115,000 to become Ocean Guardians.

Aug. 15, 2011 -- Lionfish, a venomous invasive marine species considered one of the top predators in many coral reef environments in the Atlantic, have been documented at NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary - the first instance of the invader in the sanctuary since the species spread to U.S. East Coast waters in 2000.

Aug. 11, 2011 -- NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, with logistical support from the City of Monterey Harbor Office, has returned to the sea a 100-plus-year-old anchor inadvertently snared in a purse sein net during a commercial fishing operation last month in northern Monterey Bay.

Aug. 8, 2011 -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries' Maritime Heritage Program and the University of Hawaii's Marine Option Program have completed a survey of sunken World War II-era aircraft and shipwrecks along Maui's southern coast.

Jul. 18, 2011 -- Channel Islands Naturalist Corps was named the Take Pride in America Outstanding Federal Volunteer Program Monday during a White House ceremony. The award promotes the appreciation and stewardship of our nation's public lands.

May 16, 2011 -- Divers successfully removed 531 invasive lionfish from Florida Keys waters on May 14, during the first event of the Second Annual Florida Keys Lionfish Derby Series in Long Key, Fla., organized by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).

Apr. 19, 2011 -- Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) are hosting the second annual lionfish derby series starting May 14, in Long Key, Fla. In 2010, the inaugural series of lionfish derbies removed 664 of the Pacific invaders from sanctuary waters.

Mar. 14, 2011 -- NOAA's Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary advises San Francisco Bay Area boaters to watch out for and steer clear of whales, which migrate into the San Francisco Bay Area in large numbers during the spring and summer.

Mar. 7, 2011 -- NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants for five seats on its Sanctuary Advisory Council.

Mar. 4, 2011 -- NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is seeking to fill three seats on its advisory council, which represents the public's interests in sanctuary matters and provides advice to the sanctuary superintendent.

Mar. 4, 2011 -- NOAA's Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants for one position on its advisory council representing Georgia conservation.

Feb. 25, 2011 -- NOAA's Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries advise San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast beachgoers against interacting with any seal pups they may find on the beach.

Feb. 22, 2011 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded Bronze Medals to four Office of National Marine Sanctuaries staff members for their superior public service in helping support NOAA's response to the 2009 tsunami in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Feb. 1, 2011 --NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, in partnership with Murrain Associates, Inc., and the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS), today launched Voyage to Discovery site.

Jan. 31, 2011 --The wreck of a mid-20th century fishing vessel, representative of a distinctive regional fishing technique, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.

Jan. 28, 2011 --University of Connecticut and California State University researchers have found that seafloor communities in a restricted fishing area in NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary show evidence of recovery from chronic fishing gear impacts.

Jan. 14, 2011 --Today NOAA released a comprehensive draft management plan and environmental assessment for Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary for public review and comment.

Jan. 13, 2011 -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries today announced the appointment of Malia Chow as the new superintendent of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

Jan. 13, 2011 -- Future aeronautical charts would include a reference to overflight regulations for four West Coast national marine sanctuaries under technical changes proposed by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.