The first underwater explorations of Cordell Bank occurred in 1978 when a non-profit research association, Cordell Expeditions, started a ten-year effort to document the organisms living on and above the bank. Images of the extraordinary biological diversity were available to the public for the first time and were instrumental in NOAA designating Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary would go on to protect and explore the bank, including preserving the oral history of the original Cordell Expedition dive team and revisiting the sites originally sampled by Cordell Expeditions 30 years earlier.

The contribution of Cordell Expeditions underscores the importance of non-profit partners in sanctuary management. Today, the sanctuary system has hundreds of partners, particularly the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) and our local friends groups. The NMSF was created in 2000 to assist the Sanctuary System with education and outreach programs. The NMSF has since grown to an annual budget of almost $7 million and a staff of seven, and oversees significant projects such as Capitol Hill Oceans Week. Additionally, seven sanctuaries (Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, Thunder Bay, Monterey Bay, Olympic Coast, Florida Keys, and Stellwagen Bank) have friends groups to support local efforts.